Duality
by JupiterWaterWheel
Summary: [Slow burn]There's always two sides of the same coin, no matter how good or how evil. Choices are made and cannot be taken back and the path they choose to walk will always have its opposite. The students of Class 1-A will need to make some tough choices in order to become the heroes they want to be in the future. Bakugo x OC.
1. Testing the Dream

**Chapter 1**

Getting into U.A was something she never thought would happen, sure she was smart with the uses of her quirk but still. Entering the most famous school for their hero course, only the top heroes came from this building. And that's what she wanted to be - one if the best of the best - now this was the first step towards that path.

Standing in front of the gate was surreal to her, as if it was a dream. But it was real - here she is wear her U.A uniform, grey skirt with a white button up short and loose red a deep breath before pulling up her matching grey hoodie and walking towards the school. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and placed on the left side of her neck, letting it rest on her chest. Making her look slightly intimidating, she didn't know these people and didn't really want to interact with people she might not even be in her class.

Making her way up the stairs her dark blue eyes started looking for her class 1-A. Coming to a stop to a large door with the class number painted on the front, her hand went to slide the door open. Seeing that the class was decently sized with 20 desks in near rows. Quickly finding her seat next to the door, she noticed that some students already sitting at their seats.

One was a boy with red and white hair on his head. A burn on his right side where a blue colored eye was looking at her, she stared back and nodded in greeting before turning her dark blue gaze towards other classmate. A bird? A boy? Well he certain looked different and memorable to say the least, his eyes were closed waiting for the class to finally start.

With a sigh she sat in her seat, rummaging through her bag before pulling out some headphones and slipping them on to drown out any and all outside noise. Music always helped her calm down when in new situations she felt nervous with, and one by one more students began to file in the classroom.

"Don't put your feet on the desk!"

"Huh?"

Looking over to see what could possibly be louder than her music she moves one of the headphones aside to listen in on what is happening in the other side of the classroom. She sees two boys speaking rather loudly at each other, one standing with great posture - dark blackish blue hair with glasses. While the other boy was seated with dusty blonde hair with a open mouth smirk and sharp slanted eyes.

"Don't you think that's rude to the U.A upperclassmen and the people who made the desk?" said the one with glasses, making strong hand motions.

With a bellow the blonde answered. "Nope! What junior high did you go to, you side character?"

 _'Really, side character? Who does this guy think he is?'_ She thought, pausing her music and paying full attention to the situation.

"I attended Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida."

"Somei?! So you're a damn elite, huh? Looks like I'll have fun crushing you."

Looking away quickly so not to draw attention to her herself, she let out a tiny laugh before tuning back into the conversation.

 _'Well this might be interesting, nice way to start off the school year.'_ Amused at what was going down.

"Crushing"?

With a startled motion, the boy - Tenya Iida steps back. "That's cruel. Do you truly aim to be a hero?"

The bickering stopped as both boys turned their attention to the door, spotting something that seemed important. Following their gazes, she also turned to see what was so important to stop her entertainment.

In front of the door was a freckled face boy with wide eyes and messy dark green hair standing in the doorway. He looked pretty shy and didn't seem like he was used to all the attention he was getting from the class.

"Oh, um.."

Moving with purpose, Iida began marching towards the timid boy by the door. "Good Morning! I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is-"

"-I heard!" His voice sounded unsure and filled panic as if trying to defuse a dangerous situation.

"My name is Midoriya. It's nice to meet you Iida-kun." Hands placed in front of him with his posture slightly slouched. Like wanting to shrink away from the uptight student.

"Midoriya-kun, you realized something during the practical exam, didn't you?" Iida's voice seemed more serious, with his arms stripped to the sides of his body.

"I had no idea..I misjudged you! I hate to admit it, but you're better than me."

"Oh, that curly hair! You're the plain-looking one!" Another voice broke into the conversation between the two boys, a girl by the looks of it.

She had brown hair shaped in a bob with side bangs that were a bit longer in the front sides of her face. From what she was saying it seems that they have met during the practical exam and was happy to see that she was in the same class as Midoriya.

Shocked by the girl, said boy turned and gasped seeing who it was behind him.

"You passed, just like Present Mic said! Of course you did! Your punch was amazing!"

"Oh, well, um, it was thanks to you going to speak with him directly that I, uh-" his face was a deep pink and hand moving to the back of head, scratching his head bashfully.

"Huh? How did you know about that?" The girl stopped waving her arm in a punching motion when hearing him mention about speaking with Present Mic.

"Oh, uh, that's because…

"I wonder if today's just going to be the entrance ceremony and orientation? I wonder what our teacher will be like? Aren't you nervous?" Her bubbly attitude was something refreshing and sweet to see.

"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends." A low tired voice said.

Midoriya looked behind the girl and spotted what just spoke, seeing his expression it looked like he saw a ghost walking around. On the ground there was a man wrapped up in what seemed to be a blanket or sleeping bag, his eyes looked as if he hadn't seen sleep in days - and his face was a bit sunken in.

"This is the hero course." Unzipping the bag a bit and reaching down to get what looked like a juice pack of something and sucking the remaining liquid out before standing.

The sound a the sleeping bag unzipping fully was heard and the man kept talking casually as if what he was doing was an everyday occurance. "Okay, it took eight second before you were quiet. Time is limited. You kids aren't rational enough."

Finally freed from the bag, the class got a better look at the man. He was kinda thin with black pants and a black long sleeved shirt. He had what looked to be a scarf or bandages wrapped loosely around his neck and greasy black hair that ended at his shoulders.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you." His voice dull and lifeless.

There was a gasp that rang throughout the classroom in disbelief, there was no way that his guy was going to be our homeroom teacher - hell, let alone a teacher.

"It's kinda sudden, but put this on and go outside onto the field." the entire class looked at him questioningly before doing what he asked.

Slowly and unsurely, the rest of the student began to make their way to the locker rooms to get changed into their P.E uniforms and heading to the field where Aizawa would be waiting for them.

A Quirk Assessment Test. That's what they were there for. No entrance ceremonies or tours of the school. It was straight into fray.

"If you're going to be a hero, you don't have time for those kinds of things. U.A's selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes. You kids have been doing these tests since junior high too, right?" Lifting his hand to show a small device displaying stats.

"Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your quirks. The country still uses averages taken from the results from students not using their quirks. It's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is slacking.

Bakugo, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right? In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

The ashen blonde boy that was Aizawa was speaking to was the same one who was talking about side characters and crushing elites. Surprised by this question he answered in a bored tone to the teacher.

"67 meters."

"Then, try doing it with your quirk."

Tossing the ball towards Bakugo and directing him to stand within a circle. Making sure to mention that he could whatever he wanted as long as he stayed within the circle, Aizawa backed away to a safe distance to make sure that the full power of Bakugo's quirk could be shown.

After doing some quick arm exercises to warm up his muscle Bakugo seemed ready and willing to throw the ball. With a confident step planting his front leg firmly into the ground he readied up his pitch, showing perfect form before his face completely changed into a manic expression.

Letting out a crazy shout "DIE!" the ball flew out of his hand with a huge explosion propelling it high into the sky, the heat of the blast was massive and caused shockwaves through the air.

"Know your maximum first. That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero." Aizawa said and lifted up the the small device showing just how far Bakugo's pitch launched the ball.

705.2 meters.

Everyone was shocked by the result, some exclaiming in disbelief while others seems to get excited by the fact that they could use their quirks during this test.

"705 meters? Seriously?"

"What's this? It looks fun!"

"We can use our quirks as much as we want! As expected from the hero course!"

"It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa spoke in a flat tone, the students quieted down to hear what he had to say. From what his tone implied, it seems like he wasn't happy with the excitement that some of the class was expressing.

"You have three years to become heroes. Will you have that kind of attitude the whole time? Alright. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion." An evil smirk went across his face after making that statement.

He seemed to like seeing the panic go across some of the students faces, their worried expressions replacing the ones of joy and excitement.

"We're free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students. Welcome to U.A's hero course!"

"Last place gets expelled?! But it's the first day of school! No even if it isn't, that's unfair" It was the bubbly girl speaking up against the rule.

"Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Calamities whose time or places can't be foretold. Japan is covered with unfairness. It's heroes who are the ones that reverse those situations. If you wanted to go talk with your friends at a restaurant after school, then too bad. For the next three years, U.A will be doing all that it can to give you one hardship after the next. Go beyond. Plus Ultra. Overcome it with all you got."

Looking around the rest of the class, some of them had shocked faces, others calm and reserved - but the rest had the look of determination to make their dreams of becoming heroes possible. Ready to show the world that they have what it takes to become the best of the best, and with that small speech over Aizawa began the exam.

 **First Test 50 meter dash**

Students were lead to a 50 meter track ready to test their sprinting speed and how fast that can go with the use of their quirks. At the end of the track was a small tripod with a robot camera able to track the time which the students finished, first up was Iida and a frog like girl.

"Get Ready..get set.." A sound of a pistol shooting up marked the start.

In a flash Iida surged forward leaving a trail of dust in his wake as he raced towards the finish line.

3.04 seconds

Iida skidded to a stop before turning around after hearing the results.

 _ **Tenya Iida. Quirk: Engine.**_

5.58 seconds. His opponent's time.

Next up was the sweet bubbly girl and a boy with a tail.

"I'll lighten up my clothes and shoes."

 _ **Ochaco Uraraka. Quirk: Zero Gravity.**_

After hearing the pistol sound off she ran as fast as she could down the track, the boy with the tail beating her time of 7.15 seconds.

Now it was her own turn, she liked this one. She was always more of a sprinter than a long distance runner to be honest with herself, moving to her block right next to the girl that was next to her. The person beside her that pink skin with horns coming out of her head and her eyes were black except for her yellow irises.

"On your mark.."

Moving her long hair back she took a deep calming breath and exhaled, closing her navy eyes in order to focus a bit more. Hoping her nerves weren't going to get the best of her, heart pumping loudly. She always hated taking tests, no matter what form they were - never liking being in the spotlight, but now she had to shine in order to stay out of last place.

"Get set.." And the pop rang through the air, now she activated her quirk. Her body vanishing into the ground until nothing remained but a black shadow. Said shadow dashed towards the finish line - moving as if it had a mind of its own.

 _ **Izumi Toshihara. Quirk: Night Touch.**_ _She can control and manipulate shadows to her will._

Upon passing the end the shadow stopped before rising and returning to her physical form. Hoping to hear a good result she turned and waited to hear the robotic voice call out her time.

4.25 seconds.

' _Not bad, wish I was faster though.'_

With that part out of the way Izumi made her way back over to the rest of class that had finished with the dash, waiting to see the rest of the others results. Looking to see who was up next she saw two people she knew the names of. Bakugo and Midoriya, the former looking a bit concerned and pained - the sound of the pistol shot signalling the start.

"Explosive Speed!"

A familiar scream cried as he ran forward with his arms behind him, only to suddenly start a chain of exploding bursts launching Bakugo forwards at high speed. It was impressive to say the least and creative use of his quirk as well, he passed the finish line with 4.13 seconds as his result.

 _ **Katsuki Bakugo. Quirk: Explosion.**_

Running at a fairly normal pace behind the explosive boy was Midoriya, his form seeming tired and ragged for doing a full sprint. He finished with 7.02 seconds, he had his hands on his knees panting trying to get as much air as possible. Izumi noticed that his hands tightened on his knees as if struggling with something, she wanted to go over and check up on him but decided against it. She didn't know him, and while he seemed pretty nice that doesn't mean that she should offer him some advice. Turning around and making her way towards the next test she sighed, she just wanted this day to be over with so she could go home.

 **Second Test Grip strength**

This test was pretty much easy, just standing in one spot and grip a machine to test how much strength she had. Shadows swirled around her arms before solidifying and taking to form of huge claws - she turned her attention to the small machine that was given to her.

' _150 kg. Not too bad either I suppose.'_

"Wow! 540kg? What are you a gorilla?!"

' _Seems like my result is pretty lackluster compared to that number.'_ She thought as she smiled to her herself before letting out a tiny chuckle.

 **Third Test Standing long Jump**

Izumi was up first this time, taking her place at the start of the sand pit she summoned her shadows - having the inky blackness twist and form on her lower back just above her hips to form small wings. Not huge to the point of them overshadowing her body, but just big enough to where she could lift herself up off the ground and propel herself forward some distance in a single jump.

' _Come on, please work and give me some distance._ ' And with that thought in mind she launched herself quite the ways, she barely manage going passed the sand pit before her feet making contact with the ground.

She then heard the loud of explosions making there way to her location and they were coming quickly. Moving to the sides in a few steps she saw Bakugo fly past her, his explosions once again helping breeze past. Seeing his position in midair made her want to laugh out loud at how stupid it looked, her eyes reaching to see where he landed. But knowing how he handled Iida telling him not to put his feet on the desk, she thought it would be best if she didn't try to bother him - let alone laugh at him.

Waiting for the next person to do the standing jump was once again Midoriya, who was already in the sand just barely past the robot recording the entire class' results. He landed hard on his feet before fall back onto his butt.

 **Fourth Test Repeated side steps**

This test was just plain dumb, there was nothing she could really do with her quirk to help her with this one. Luckily, she was quick and moved effortless from side to side until she ran out of breath - which was about 7 minutes in. Going over to a quiet spot and sitting down to rest and see what the others would do with their own quirk abilities on this test.

One student was racking up those side steps like it was the easiest thing on the planet. A boy with what looked to be purple balls on his head - he was able to pop them up and they would stick together, becoming super bouncy. With those he was able to bounce side to side without any effort at all.

 **Fifth Test Ball Throw**

Uraraka was up and she seemed pretty confident about her ability on this test, after touching the ball with a pink glow she girlishly threw the ball into the air. The ball kept going and going and going until it could no longer be seen, Aizawa lifted up his device to show the class and it was infinity?!

"That's amazing! She got infinity!"

It seems the last one up for the ball throw was Midoriya, it looked like he was struggling with the exam the entire time. Not putting out some amazing results compared to the other students - it was the time to prove himself in front of everyone. Standing in the circle with the ball in his hand preparing to throw, his freckled face was strained with worry and stress - perhaps he also had problems with performing under pressure.

' _If he can't act under the pressure of a simple exam, how is he going to act when he needs to fight and save people?'_ Izumi's thought seemed harsh but it was true. The world is a stressful place to live in, let alone a regular life as a civilian. Heroes are the ones that people turn to when dangerous situations are happening - they needed to be clear minded and rational.

"It doesn't look good for Midoriya-kun if he continues like this." Iida expressing his concern for his classmate with a stern look on his face.

Beside him stood Bakugo and Ochaco. "Huh? Of course not. He's a quirkless small fry, you know." The former spoke as if he wanted the whole class to hear about Midoriya's "quirklessness".

"Quirkless?! Are you not aware of what he did during the entrance exam?"

"Huh?"

After a small pause Midoriya clenched his teeth and began to lean back - his arm outstretched behind him, getting ready to throw the ball as hard and as far as he could. It was the moment of truth for him, to prove to the world that he wasn't useless, that he CAN BECOME A HERO!

46 meters.

Everyone looked surprised at the low score, he looked as if he was going to use his quirk but nothing happened. His face full of shock and confusion before standing upright to a standing position and began to mumble to himself. The sounds of unwrapping could be heard, as Aizawa started to speak up.

"I erased your quirk."

Turning around to face the homeroom teacher Midoriya gasped and stood in surprise as he saw the scarfs beginning to float and flow in the air. His teacher's normally greasy lifeless hair seemed to fly up around his face and his eyes glowing red, glaring straight at him with annoyance.

"That entrance exam was not rational enough. Even a kid like you was accepted."

"You erased my quirk?" A light of recognition his eyes as he finally pieced everything together.

"Those goggles...I see! You can erase people's quirks just by looking at them. The Erasure Hero: Eraser Head!"

"Eraser? I don't know him." The class began to making noise trying to figure out just how their homeroom teacher truly was. They have never heard of him before, so he couldn't be that well known right? Finally one of them spoke up from the crowd.

"I've heard of him. He's an underground hero."

Aizawa's glowing red eyes narrowed as he glared down at the green haired boy. "From what I can tell, you can't control your quirk, can you? Do you intend to incapacitate yourself again and have someone else save you?"

"Th-That's not my intention-"

His bandages quickly wrapped around the young student's shoulders and began to bring him closer to the darkly dressed man. His face full of fear and terror as he was finally brought right in front of the man's face. Leaning down lower to the young man's level Aizawa's voice deepened in tone.

"Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what those around you will be forced to do. In the past there was an overly passionate hero who saved over a thousand people by himself and created a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turned into a useless doll after saving just one person. Izuku Midoriya. With your power, you cannot become a hero."

And with all that said the bandages around the student's shoulders retreated back into its normal form and Aizawa's hair fell into its' regular mop like style. His stance relaxed and his eyes ceased glowing red, closing them before turning around and walking away from the teenager.

"I've returned your quirk. You have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with."

' _Ouch, that's brutal. Even I wouldn't say that out loud without being prompted to.'_ Izumi felt bad for the boy. Just being called out in front of the class like that must be so humiliating and frustrating, she knew from personal experience.

Her heart went out to Midoriya, but she also knew that the man had a point. What was the point of being a hero when trying to save someone would not only harm you but the other person as well. It just didn't really make any sense, sure you would be doing the right thing - but still. With a sigh she closed her eyes not wanting to see the boy's face, he had his dream crushed in front of him and others. That was always painful to watch. Taking a moment to calm down from the tense air around them all she looked back to see Midoriya standing in the circle again - getting ready for his second throw.

His true Last Chance.

"It looks like he received some advice."

"Probably just telling him that he's expelled."

A shadow was casted over his eyes as his lips moved, speaking to himself. He looked like he was giving up - they way he was standing was as if he were a man defeated. Drained of all hope and life. Suddenly as if a flash of light, his green eyes widened and he moved to throw the ball. Eyes determined, focused - ready to show the world that he was a hero and he was willing to fight to make that goal reality.

As the ball left his hand it created huge shockwaves throughout the air, kicking up dust and small pebbles that littered the ground around him. The entire class stared in shock and disbelief at the sky, trying to come to terms with the fact at what just happened - the ball..just rocketed to the blue horizon. When the ball finally touched the ground the results came in. 705.3 meters.

"Mr. Aizawa. I can still move!"

Fist clenched, teeth biting on his bottom lip and eyes wobbling in pain - there he stood. Strong and ready to continue, holding down his tears of pain and face filled with determination.

' _He's filled with strength and ballsy enough to chase his dreams despite what others may say to him.'_

Izumi's eyes softened a bit from their normal hard blank stare as she looked at the teenager facing the teacher. A small smile made its' way across her lips, but on the inside she really wanted to laugh with joy with how the way things turned out - this Izuku Midoriya. She knew he had what it took to become a hero, the attitude to pull off anything he could set his mind to.

"Izuku Midoriya. You seem like a good person, I hope we can become good friends in the future." Speaking more to herself than to anyone else around her. Her smile still staying on her face the entire time.


	2. Battle Costumes

_**AN: Hello there, thank you for choosing to read this story. I'm kinda new to this community so please if there's anything that you think I should know, I would be thankful. As you can see this story will be following the storyline of the anime since most of you would probably be more familiar with that instead of the manga. I'm up to date with the plot of both anime and manga so I might be reading this story a bit further than when season 3 would end. Depending on if I find the last episode of the season was a good stopping point. If you didn't know season with will be coming out next month on the 7th! Very excited to see how the anime will handle certain things, no spoilers for you guys so don't worry.**_

 _ **This will be slow burn, the romance will be done as naturally as possible, I don't really like the whole "They're already in love in 5 chapters" kinda thing. I find that too rushed and unnatural, that doesn't really happen in real life, so why should it in fiction? I really hope that you all will enjoy the journey that the OC and the rest of class 1-A will be going throughout the whole story.**_

 _ **Thank you again for reading and if you like you could comment as well. If you have any critics then please do so civilly, I don't appreciate rudeness.**_

 _ **Moon.**_

 **Chapter 2**

"He got over 700 meters?!"

The class still stood in shock at the young green haired boy, none believing that someone like him could have such power resting inside of his timid body.

"Finally, a hero-like record!" Uraraka cried out in happiness as she jumped up and down with excitement.

"His finger is swollen! There was the entrance exam, too. He has a strange quirk.." Hand placed below his chin in thought, Iida continued to look at Midoriya with investative blue eyes.

And just beside him was an extremely shocked-faced Bakugo, his red eye widened to the point where it looked to be painful. Mouth hanging wide open, and harsh lines all over his face - it seemed to him like the world was turning upside down and right was left. He continued to stand with his shoulders slightly slouched, his muscles tensed. Small sparks of his quirk began to go off in his hands - almost overflowing with rage he spoke more to himself than to anyone else.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Before a final explosion left his hand and ran hard towards Midoriya.

"HEY! Tell me what's going on, Deku, you bastard!" Right arm cocked back with his hand clenched in a grabbing action. Bakugo was more than ready to beat the answers he wanted out of his victim.

Face twisted in panic as Izuku saw Bakugo charging at him at a full sprint, he let out a scared yell and his pupils looked as if they disappeared leaving only the whites of his eye visible. Just as the raging boy was about to reach his target, bandages shot up into the air and making a quick grab around the screaming blonde - making quick work at restraining him. Looking behind the scene was Mr. Aizawa, with his eyes once again glowing red - preventing the start of a full out brawl.

"What the-? These bandages are hard..!"

"They're capture weapons made of carbon fiber woven together with metal wires made of a special alloy. Jeez. Don't keep making me use my quirk over and over. I have dry eye." The expression on Aizawa's face looked like his was absolutely pissed.

' _I wouldn't want to get on his bad side ever, I'm sure that look would my make soul shutter.'_ Izumi continued to stare at the scene that was in front of the entire class. She had to admit that the teacher was quick to react, it was just a few seconds - but he managed to gain control of the situation to smoothly.

"We're wasting time. We're moving on to the next test, let's go." Bandages retracting away from his student before turning and walking to the next station. The students followed - hesitantly - behind him, but not before looking back at the two boys still standing in place. Midoriya moved unsurely around Bakugo before joining the rest of the class, while the dusty blonde continued to stand where he was stopped with his teeth clenched. His hair falling over his eyes, keeping them hidden from view - glaring back at Izuku. His full face coming into view, it looked like he was ready to go berserk, only thing that was keeping him from doing so was the fact that Aizawa would once again intervene and he would face some consequences.

The remainder of the day was uneventful, doing sit-ups, seated toe-touch and the long distance long. Finally the test was over and the class was huddled into a group before the teacher - waiting to see who placed where and hoping their name wouldn't be in the last place slot.

"Okay, I'll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It's a waste of breathe to explain it verbally, so I'll show you them all at once." In his hand was the small device he had shown the class earlier, it had collected every single result from every student during the entire assessment exam. Eyes darted around to trying to see where their were placed and who placed at the top of the list. Izumi quickly went to work looking for her name on the list, hoping she at least made the top 8 - anything else and she would be disappointed.

' _Hmm..Looks like a made 5th place. Not bad, but not good either - I need to be better, I have to get better.'_ She always tried to push herself to be the best at things she was interested in. Almost to the point where she would be overly critical of herself and her actions.

Down in last place was Izuku Midoriya.

The boy look devastated at the list, how could he not. Afterall it was his dream to become a hero, why would he have come to U.A in the first place if not to be the best of the best. His head lowered in defeat as he looked down at his hand, finger swollen and fist clenched.

"By the way, I was lying about last place getting expelled. It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your quirks."

Shellshocked. That's what the class was, faces and eyes blank as they heard those words flow out of Aizawa's mouth. He even had a doofy look on his face while saying it too.

"WHAT?!"

"Of course it was a lie. It was obvious if you thought it through." A girl with a upswept ponytail commented.

' _Well of course you won't have any reason to worry about! You got first place!'_ Dark blue eyes narrowed and Izumi's lips went flat. All that stress and nervousness, all for nothing!

"That was a little nerve-wracking, huh?"

"I'll take up the challenge anytime!"

"With that, we're done here. Handouts and the curriculum are in the classroom so when you get back, look them over." His job done Aizawa walked away from the relieved students and made his way back inside the school. Stopping just in front of Midoriya and handing him a paper to the nurse's office to heal his finger.

After that stressful exam and getting the mentioned papers from the classroom, Izumi was walking out of the building and making her way home. She was glad that the first day went somewhat smoothly, freaking out inwardly over that test really made her anxious about the rest of the school year. But in order to become a hero, things can't always be easy - overcome the pressure and fear of failure. With her grey hood up on her black head she slowed her paced before looking up at the sky before taking a deep breath to release the built up anxiety.

While doing her breathing she spotted a familiar head of messy dark green hair bobbing its way down the path towards the gates leading outside the school grounds. It looked like he was exhausted, his arms falling limply in front of him and walked like a zombie.

' _Well I suppose now would be a good time to introduce myself. No need to worry, meeting new people isn't that scary, just relax. Be cool, you're cool.'_ She was building up the courage to speak to him. She never really liked small talk and making new friends was always something she dreaded - she would rather be sucked into the ground than make a fool of herself.

Making her way towards the tired Midoriya, she began to convince herself that she was fine. Coming to a stop just a few feet away and started to speak up, starting to introduce herself to him.

"Hey.." Looking up towards the voice Izuku saw the girl that was speaking to him. Her face was slightly covered with her bangs swept to one side of her face - hiding one of her blue eyes from view.

"Y-Yes?"

"I'm Izumi Toshihara, we're in the same class. You did pretty good out there - during the test I mean."

' _Way to sound friendly, I'm really not good at socializing at all. Maybe I should just leave, probably doesn't want to know me anyway.'_

"Oh! You were that girl in 5th place right?" He seemed interested in what she had to say, looking a bit more lively than he had before.

"Uh yeah, that's me. I just-"

"Is your finger healed?" A voice popped up from behind them interrupting the conversation with the question. Turning around they saw Iida Tenya standing right there a steps away - his face looking worried but still stern.

"Yeah, thanks to Recovery Girl." Lifting his bandaged finger to show him that everything was fine. They all began to walk together in a small group leaving the school in the background - once again Iida spoke up.

"I was really taken in by Mr. Aizawa. I even thought, 'This is the best of the best' and so on. I didn't think a teacher would be encouraged to lie to us with such a lie."

"HEY! You three! Going to the station? Wait for me!" Stopping in their tracks after hearing another voice call out to them - this time a girl's voice. Looking back to see who it was, they saw Uraraka running to catch up to them with her pink backpack bouncing around.

"You're infinity girl."

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka. Um, you're Iida Tenya, Izumi Toshihara and you're Deku Midoriya, right?"

"Deku?!" Midoriya looked shocked that she would call him that let alone know that name.

"Huh? But during the fitness test, that boy named Bakugo said 'Deku, you bastard!' Right?"

"Um...my real name is Izuku, but D-Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me.." He quickly began to explain the reasoning behind that name and what it meant.

"Seems to me that 'Kacchan' is an asshole." Izumi spoke up for the first time since they were all huddled together.

"An insult?" A concerned Iida once again place his hand under his chin, thinking about the blonde boy and his connection to Midoriya.

"Oh, is that right? Sorry! But 'Deku' sounds like the japanese word for 'You can do it!' So I like it." Uraraka apologized before turning the insult into a positive thing. Her fist clenched in front of her face with a determined stance - she looked as if she was encouraging him to do his best.

"I'm Deku!"

"Midoriya-kun? You're accepting this too easily! Wasn't it an insult?"

"Yeah, it's not something to be okay with at all." Both Iida and Izumi seemed to see that accepting that name was a problem, which was true. Who would want to called an insulting name for the rest of their life - it wasn't something anyone would normally do. But it looked like the young boy wasn't listening to them at all, he was more focused on covering his face that was strong pink color from the rest of them.

The four of them continued their walk towards the station, enjoying each other's company and getting to know the others. They talked about all kinds of things, from favorite foods to books they all liked - slowly but surely the group of two girls and two boys started to relax around each other. After making it to the station and going their separate ways, Izumi walked the rest of the way home.

Reaching her apartment door and opening it, she was greeted by the sounds of the TV being on and seeing her mother sitting down and watching a show about houses.

"Hi."

"Hey, how was school?" Her mother was curious about her day and wanting to hear everything that happened to her daughter.

"It was fine, we did a fitness test. I got 5th place, it was alright - nothing amazing happened today." Izumi's voice sounded bored, just wanting to get the conversation over and done with so she could go into her room and unwind.

"That's good, well I made rice and chicken for supper for you tonight because I'm going to work later. I won't be back until later in the night."

"Okay. That's fine. I'm going in my room now, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Her mother said before turning her attention back to the TV to resume watching her show.

Reaching the door to her room walked in and began to take off her uniform, changing into some more comfortable clothes. She flopped onto her bed to read and pass the time, she needed some time alone to recharge her batteries - with all the things that happened at school today she really wasn't in the mood to be bothered. After all tomorrow was another day, she needed to be rested for what was in store for them all the next day.

U.A's Hero Course school curriculum was a bit different then what Izumi was expecting, regular required classes such as english, math, history were in the morning. Currently the class they that were all sitting through was english - and it was damn boring too. And since she was in the front row she couldn't really stare out the window or doing anything to distract herself without drawing attention to herself. So there she sat, her brain slowly rotting away with boredom as Present Mic asked questions about the sentences written on the board.

He noticed that the class was pretty much dead, he was really trying to make this class seem fun and interesting. Her heart went out to the guy but if it was something she herself didn't find interesting then it wasn't worth the space in her brain. But she supposed that she should give him credit, her middle school teachers just spoke the lessons to the class - never trying to interact with their students whatsoever. Well she would at least pretend to try at this and give the poor man a break, with that thought in mind she raised her hand and sat as if she was somewhat interested in the rest of the class.

Lunch had finally come and she was starving, ready to eat all the food she could get her hands on. Eating was done in the main cafeteria where all the students in the school could buy different kinds of food at a reasonable price. Looking around trying to find some place to sit, she noticed that Uraraka, Midoriya and Iida were all together having lunch together. Quickly she made her way to them and sat down with her food, happy to be sitting and being around some good company.

The person in charge of the cafeteria was the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush. He actually came up to the table and greeting the group with a thumbs up. Izuku had his hands in front of his mouth as if he was trying to stop himself from screaming, the look of a pure fanboy across his face. While Uraraka was chomping down on some rice - enjoying the delicious flavor and filling her stomach. Izumi on the other hand was just staring the the lunch time hero with a blank expression on her face before nodding and turning her attention to eating. Peeking over to Iida to see what he was doing, and the face he had on was a look of stupiafication as he just stared and Lunch Rush with a slack jaw look.

The afternoon had come and it was time for hero basic training.

"I am.." A deep resounding voice boomed just outside the door, heads perking up and turning their full attention towards where the voice was coming from.

"...coming through the door like a normal person!" Slamming the door open and leaning his upper body into the classroom was All Might - dressed in his costume from the Silver Age of heroes. Cape flowing behind him as he walked stiffly to the podium, signature smiling on his face. The entire class was buzzing with excitement as they saw him, he was a legendary hero known for his heroic acts - and they were going to learn from him. It seemed too unreal for words, someone as important as him coming here and becoming a teacher.

"It's All Might!"

"Wow, he really **is** a teacher!"

"That's a costume from the Silver Age, isn't it?"

"Its style is so different, it's giving me goosebumps."

Standing confidently with hands on his hips he addressed the class with a strong and welcoming voice. "I teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You'll take the most units of this subject!"

Moving over to the side of the podium he began taking heroic poses while explaining everything they needed to know about basic training.

"Let's get right into to it! This is what we'll do today-" Pulling out a flashcard in a flash and over dramatic way. It had the words battle written in large stylized red letters.

"Combat Training! And to go with that are these!" Point to the wall, on queue, slots starting to withdraw from the wall. Briefcases with numbers appeared.

"Costumes made based on your quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started."

A roar of excitement rang out from the class, everyone very excited to finally see what kind of costumes they got.

"After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!"

One by one the class stood up when their numbers were called and got their costumes before making their way to the changing rooms. After Izumi got hers she slowly walked to get changed, nervous at what the costume might look like - she remembered that while she was drawing her design for her costume she changed her mind so many times. From something dark and moody to something somewhat light and breezy, when it came to designs she could never decide on what she wanted. After some time she finally made her decision about her costume, she would have to compromise, between form and function.

Her hand sketched out a bit of a human form. Sure it looked as if she had just got out of a elementary school art class, but it was functional to say the least. The preset image was not what she would like. So with some simple motions of her wrists she sketched onto the paper. Her eyes reflected a boredom to the outside viewer, however as she went from the feet up, she was getting hyped inside her mind.

Thinking back on it now she was glad that she had such a hard time thinking about what kind of costume she would like to wear. It sorted out all the bad ideas she had and kept all the ones she really wanted to represent her as a hero. Changing out of her uniform she confidently slipped into her attire and once she was done - walked out of the changing room bumping into Uraraka. Together they both made their way to Ground Beta with the rest of the students, prepared for what the lesson had to bring.

Standing there in all his confidence was All Might, waiting for his young students to appear before him with their hero costumes.

"They say that the clothes make the man, young men and ladies. Be fully aware, from now on you are heroes!" Class 1-A walking out with swagger with their costumes on.

"That's great, everyone. You all look so cool! Now shall we begin, you zygotes?"

Izumi and Uraraka were standing next to each other commenting on the other's costumes.

"Yours looks really good on you Uraraka, it's very stylish and represents you very well."

"I should have written down what I wanted better. Mine just ended up being a skintight bodysuit. It's embarrassing." Her hand rubbing the back of her head bashfully. Her face was covered in some kind of clear light pink visor, mainly to keep debris from going into her eyes and obstructing her view.

"But Izumi-san, yours look really cool! I thought you would go with something all black to suit your quirk, so I'm really surprised by some of the colors."

Standing in front of her friend with one arm resting on her hip stood Izumi in her full hero costume. The dark purple tights stretched up her legs, racing across her body as her onyx knee-length boots concreted her to the ground. They were long and angular for a reason, her costume made with the importance of casting shadows in almost any lighting condition. The narrowness of her chest and stomach section was made of somewhat loose fabric, allowing it to flow back and forth and create long shadows that she could utilize. She had to make sure that the basics was covered, the whole fabric was made out of pliable yet solid material that was usually seen on heroes that could stretch as a part of their quirk. Her arms were covered in a tight, but not form fitting fabric, that acted like acid proof gloves. Her raven-colored hair was tied about midway down. She has to be able to see, seeing is important in training.

"Thanks Uraraka, I had a hard time deciding on what my costume should be. Besides all black is for funerals."

"Haha, right I guess you're right about that point." Letting out a light laugh the brown haired girl noticed someone coming out of the tunnel joining the rest of the class.

Wearing a teal green costume stood Izuku, with black knee and elbow guards. There would also lines of white so the whole thing didn't look like one solid color - making it a bit easier on the eyes. Around his eyes were black circles adding a bit of shadow to the entire piece and covering his mouth looked like what seemed to be a mesh mouthpiece - with white blocks just at the bottom forming in what looked like a smile? On the very top of his head were two rabbit ears sticking out.

Tilting her head to the side, navy blue eyes squinting Izumi tried to make out what was Midoriya's costume. She was completely confused that what was standing in front of her, Uraraka on the other hand was happy to see his costume.

' _What is that supposed to be? I really can't tell, it looks...awful..I'll just keep my thoughts to myself.'_

"Oh, Deku-kun?"

"Uraraka-san!"

"That looks cool! Really down to earth." She approached to greet him, getting a better look at the boy. Meanwhile, said boy quickly covered his mouth and a blush started to cover his cheek as he continued to look at her. Seeing her in her skintight costume made him react as if he was looking at something extremely sinful.

Looking to see all the other students costumes, he noticed Izumi approaching him as well. Since hers wasn't as tight as Uraraka he felt safe enough to look at her without overheating from embarrassment - he waved to her as she came to a stop, talking with his two friends.

"Toshihara-san, your costume looks really cool. I see that the material is able to stretch too.."

"Yeah, I need it to if I want to control shadows when I want to. And thanks, yours looks..like it's special." Not wanting to seem rude by saying what she truly thought, but also might hint that she didn't really approve. She was trying to be tactful.

"Y-You're right, it is special. My mom made this costume for me, she put a lot of work into it. How could I not wear it, you know what I mean?" He laughed shyly while he rubbed the back of his neck.

' _Oh...that's really cute and sweet. But it still looks awful, though less now that I know there was sentiment behind it.'_

"Now, it's time for combat training!"

"Sir! This is the battle center from the entrance exam, so will we be continuing urban battles again?" Clad in full armor Iida was still as serious as he always was.

"No, we're going to move two steps ahead! Most of the time, fighting villains take place outside, but if you look at the total numbers, atrocious villains appear indoors at a higher rate. Imprisonment, house arrest, backroom deals- In this society of heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows!

For this class, you'll be split into two teams of villains and heroes and fight two on two indoor battles."

"Without basic training?" A girl with goggles on her head and dressed in a tight green and black bodysuit.

"This is a real battle to understand those basics! However, the key this time is that there aren't robots for you to defeat."

"Then how will wins and losses be determined?"

"Can we beat them up anyway?"

"Will the punishment be expulsion like with Mr. Aizawa?"

"How will we be split up?"

Looking a bit overwhelmed by all the questions that the class was launching one after the other, All Might clenched his fist to his face and stood there slightly shaking in frustration. "I'll answer all your questions!" He pulled out a tiny booklet that he had and opened it to begin reading all the rules of this lesson.

"Now listen here. The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere inside their hideout. The heroes are trying to dispose of that. The heroes need to catch the villains or capture the weapon in the time limit. The villains need to protect the weapon for the whole time or catch the heroes!

Teams and opponents will be decided by drawing lots!" Holding out a yellow box in his hands showing the class.

Protesting loudly at the way team were being decided was Iida. "They're being decided so haphazardly?!"

"Pros often have the create makeshift teams with heroes from other agencies, so maybe that's why?" Izuku pointed out with that statement making Iida see the reasoning behind why All Might was choosing that way to do things.

"Let's do this quickly!"

 **Team A: Uraraka and Midoriya**

 **Team B: Shoji and Todoroki**

 **Team C: Mineta and Yaoyorozu**

 **Team D: Bakugo and Iida**

 **Team E: Ashido and Toshihara**

 **Team F: Kota and Sota**

 **Team G: Kaminari and Jiro**

 **Team H: Toyokami and Asui**

 **Team I: Ojiro and Hagakure**

 **Team J: Sero and Kirishima**

"Wow, it must be fate! I'm counting on you!" Uraraka exclaimed with excitement as she was matched up with Izuku. He looked like he was having a mild panic attack at the thought of being paired with a girl, let alone when she's wearing something so form hugging.

Seeing that All Might was digging his hands into separate boxes, the teens became to pair up with their other partner - waiting to see which side they'll be on. Izumi was quietly standing next to her teammate Mina Ashido, she recognized the girl quickly. She was the girl she ran against during the 50 meter sprint test. It was hard to forget her since she had a unique look with pink skin and little horns peeking out of her pink hair.

"The first teams to fight will be...THESE GUYS!" Holding the two lettered balls in his large hands. Teams D and A.

"Team A will be the heroes and Team D will be the villains. Everyone else, head towards the monitor room."

As the rest of the class made their way to the monitor room, Izumi lagged a bit behind so she could wish her friends good luck in the mock battle. But she quickly noticed the resting tension in the air as soon as she looked at Midoriya and Bakugo - the latter glaring holes into the former's head. Walking forwards, she reached Izuku and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hoping that it would help him with his nerves and gain a more focused mind.

"Hey Midoriya?"

"Y-Yes Toshihara-san?" He replied with a slight jump before calming down a bit. Izumi looked at his face calmly and squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"You got this. Good Luck." With those few words said, she followed the rest of the class. But before she walked fully out of range - she glared lightly at Bakugo, gaining his attention for a brief moment. He scoffed quietly and went about ignoring the girl before turning his attention back to his opponent.

Now with a more confident look Izuku was looking right back at his former childhood friend, determined to show that he had grown from timid boy to a stronger person. Surprised by this action, the angry blonde was a bit taken aback by how Midoriya was now suddenly looking at him straight in the face without looking away in fear. He noticed the change, and he didn't like it. It made his frustrated and all the more angry what him.

"Villain team, go in and set up first! In five minutes, the hero team will break in, and the battle will start!"

With confirmation from both teams they made their way to a building that was suitable for the battle to take place. Before entering the building All Might stopped the villain team from go in - he had some advice to give to them.

"Young Bakugo, Young Iida, learn to think from the viewpoint of the villains. This is pretty close to a real battle. Go all out. Don't get scared to get hurt. If things go too far, I will stop it."

They walked into the building getting ready and setting up, meanwhile the hero team was outside waiting for the go ahead from their teacher. Both heroes giving words of encouragement to the other and getting themselves ready to charge in and pass this test.

' _I'm pretty sure this is going to go to shit pretty quick. Bakugo isn't the type to communicate with a teammate, hell or even work in a team at all.'_ Izumi sighed as she watched the huge monitor that was in front to the rest of the class.

"Now, let's start the indoor person to person combat training with teams A and D!" Turning to speak to the class All Might commented.

"Okay, everyone, you should all be thinking as well."

Seeing the hero team sneak in successfully inside through a window, they quickly and quietly made their way down the halls. Peeking around corners and making sure not to alert the villains to their presence or location. They continued making their way deeper inside the building before being ambushed by Bakugo. He was airborne and he swung his right arm towards Izuku, luckily the green boy dodged out of the way as his enemy slammed into the opposing wall blasting a hole clear through it. Making sure to bring his teammate with him so that she wouldn't take any damage by the attack. Half of his cowl was blown off from how close the explosion was to his face - checking to see if Uraraka was injured and seeing they wasn't anything on her they stood up.

Using his left arm to clear away the floating dust and rubble away to get a clear sight of Midoriya, Bakugo stood there his whole body giving off at intimidating vibe. The class that was watching couldn't hear a word they were speaking, but could see their mouths moving. Izumi, meanwhile was able to catch some words that were being said since she could read lips a bit. She need to since she would often be listening to her music loudly and someone would try and talk to her on the street - a handy skill.

"A surprise attack from the start."

"Bakugo, that's cheating! A surprise attack isn't manly at all!"

"A surprise attack is strategy, too. They're in the middle of a battle right now."

"Midori-kun avoided it!"

"There goes Bakugo!" Almost everyone in the room was watching the battle with suspense as it continued to unfold in front of them all.

Running forward with his right arm pulled back getting ready for a punch at Izuku, and a flash, the latter grabbed the ash blond boy and threw him over his shoulder onto the ground. The impact was hard enough to knock the wind out of Bakugo for a few moments - sitting up slowly he turned to look back listening to what Midoriya was saying to him with a look of anger written all over his face. After the speech, he stood up looking at the boy across from him - crouching his back slightly and sparking explosions in both his hands before screaming out. All the while the green haired boy with his fists up, ready to defend and fight off whatever attack the other might have instore.

Shaking in his shoes, Midoriya still stood in front of Bakugo ready to fight, it was time for this showdown to really get started.

' _Time to put your metal to the test Midoriya. I wanna see what you are made of…'_


	3. Bakugo vs Deku

_**AN: Hello again. This chapter might be a bit shorter than the ones so far since our main character is in the monitor room with the rest of her classmates. She can't hear all the dialogue that's going on between Midoriya and Bakugo, the fight is viewed from an outside perspective so it probably a lot shorter than the episode.**_

 _ **I'm very excited for the third season to come out, it's starting this SATURDAY! (April 7th, 2018 for those who are reading in the future) So Much Excite!**_

 _ **I hope you're all still enjoying the story so far, I'm trying very hard to make sure the characters are consistent and nothing out of character is being said or done. If you notice anything like that, please let me know and I'll try my best to correct it as much as possible.**_

 _ **Thanks,**_

 _ **Moon.**_

 **Chapter 3**

Still looking at the monitors the class watched as Bakugo began to speak again, but as expected there was no sound. Without hearing what the two teams were saying to each other - they could still tell that this match was getting more and more intense by the second.

"What is Bakugo saying?"

"Can't tell with just the cameras in a fixed position and no audio."

"He's talking to his partner over a small wireless radio. You can bring that plus the building's floor plan, and this capture tape! Once you wrap this around your opponent, it shows that you've captured them." All Might explained quickly and showing the capture tape to the class and the process of how it works.

"The time limit is fifteen minutes, and the heroes don't know where the nuclear weapon is located, right?"

"Yes!"

"The heroes are the ones that are at the disadvantage here."

Turning his attention back to the monitors the teacher continued to explain the exercise more clearly to everyone. "Heroes should be able to turn the tables on whatever situation they're in. Besides, didn't Mr. Aizawa tell you, too? You know-"

With excitement beaming in their eyes they all knew what that slight pause would be, gearing up with fists clenched and ready to strike the air - they cried out.

"PLUS ULTRA!"

"Ah, Mr. All Might. Bakugo is-" Izumi pointing to the image in front of them, once again drawing all the eyes back to the fight.

With an explosion bursting out of his hand, Midoriya knew that Uraraka shouldn't be caught up in this fight and signaled for her to leave to search for the weapon while he was busy fighting. She ran in a panic as the angry blonde launched himself at Izuku, making sure the kick his left foot hoping to strike his face. Luckily, the shy boy was quick enough to react and block the blow with his arm covering the side of his face - he had some of his capture tape ready and wrapped it around his opponent's ankle.

Growing impatient with the situation the explosive boy swung his right arm, again, missing his target and breaking through another wall. Moving out of the way to the right to avoid the blast and debris Midoriya once again prepared for another attack.

"That guy's amazing!"

"He's not even using his quirk fighting against the guy who finished first in the entrance exam!"

The dust clearing the two boys could now see each other properly in the hallway, suddenly getting up and running around the closest corner Izuku ran away. Quickly on his tail was his raging enemy, the whole interior of the building looked like a maze. The matching hallways and large layout was a perfect place to hide and lose any pursuers - getting more and more frustrated at how he was running around chasing after the other, Bakugo stopped and let out a cry that he was sure Midoriya could hear.

"He seems really angry. It's scary!"

One by one the 'scary' blonde blew down the doors searching which room hoping to find the green haired boy. His face clearing showing his rage and annoyance with having to run around to find him, his jaw clenched to the point of it looking painful and arms tensed ready to crush anything in his way.

Taking a small break from running, the freckled boy crouched down by a corner making sure he was covered and caught his breath. He could hear his childhood friend breaking down the doors looking for him, Izuku quickly began to formulate a plan. He knew that Uraraka had a better chance at finding the weapon than him since he was busy keeping Bakugo away from his teammate.

' _He's acting like a spoiled dick, I can't believe that Midoriya was friends with him. I refuse to believe it.'_ Her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the floor in irritation as Izumi continued to watch.

' _You need to hurry this up, you're letting time tick away with this game of hide and seek.'_

Her navy blue eyes sharpened with annoyance that the whole thing, the way that everything was turning out - it was more and more like a grudge match between a bastard and an underdog. Looking over to All Might she saw him carefully watching the battle, making sure that nothing would get too out of hand. It was just bad luck that it was Bakugo vs Midoriya, if she didn't know any better she would have thought that this entire match was a setup.

Meanwhile, on one of the side monitors away from the main action that everyone was paying attention to - Uraraka finally managed to make her way into the room where the weapon was hidden away. Hiding behind on the many cement pillars to spied Iida standing next to her objective, apparently, the armor-clad boy did something funny enough to make her laugh and blow her cover. Hearing her laughter he turned to face her making sure that he was on guard and that she wasn't able to come in contact with his precious charge. Stepping out of hiding she stood in front of her enemy with apprehension, the room was very clean and nothing could be used to attack him with her quirk.

Pressing her hand against her ear she made contact with Izuku letting him know that she has located the weapon but she was found out. Slowly Iida began to make his way closer to her while she was relaying all the information she could to her partner, the boy looked above him as if trying to pinpoint the location and it was supposedly right above him. Standing up with his capture tape ready he started to make his move, but suddenly he heard a noise behind him - his head whipping around to the sound he saw that he had been found.

Bakugo having finally cornered his target he lifted his arm as if to show something, pupils shrunken to the point where they were almost invisible and a wicked smirk on his face. Stretching out his arm towards Midoriya he continued to speak before pulling something back on his gauntlet - he put his finger inside a small pin at the base. Noticing the battle was taking a turn for the worse Izumi quickly strode to the front of the class to get a closer look.

"Don't tell me that's.." Her head snapping to her teacher who seemed to have pieced it together as well.

"Young Bakugo, stop! Are you trying to kill him?!"

There was a manic glee that spread all over his face as he was pulling the pin and ready to unleash a power attack towards Midoriya. It felt as if the whole thing was in slow motion as he finally pulled out the pin and a gigantic explosion was set into motion - they all felt Ground Beta shake at the force of it. Windows shattered turning into glass shards before littering the ground below.

"This was supposed to be a class!"

"Young Bakugo! Young Midoriya!"

All was quiet for a few moments, everyone was trying to take in what just happened. The building where the battle was taking place looked like half of it was destroyed, rumble and thick dust floated in the air were the only things that were truly left of that hallway.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?! He was trying to KILL him!" Izumi shouted in outrage.

"This is out of control! Mr. All Might please do something about this immediately, this match is crazy!" Hoping that he would see reason, anyone could see that this match wasn't going to get better any time soon. Bakugo was ready to eliminate Izuku from the planet. Standing there with bait breath she hoped that her friends were safe and unharmed - she knew that the other two were fine but the shy freckled boy, he would have taken some serious damage.

Laying there panting about a few meters away from the hole that was blasted through the side of the building, was Midoriya. He sat up and his green eye looked at the blonde with scared eyes, he was trying to wrap his head around what happened. And standing there on the other side was Bakugo, he started to walk over to the collapsed boy before stopping in front of him. His face...his face was that of a crazed man.

The other two students that were with the weapon was shaken up slightly but otherwise okay. Iida was trying to get in contact with his partner who was still not responding to his calls. Taking the opportunity of him being distracted, Uraraka ran forward hoping that this would now be her chance to get to the weapon. Noticing that the girl was making a dash for the objective, Iida returned his attention to keeping the weapon away from the hero team - running to stop her his arms were ready to capture her. Thinking quickly the brown haired girl put her fingertips together, activating her quirk and taking a powerful leap over the charging boy before releasing her quirk again. She was just about to make it to the nuclear weapon but before she could land, it was quickly moved away from her in a flash. The objective was moved to the other side of the room, Uraraka looked back behind her with a determined face. Ready to try to make another move for the goal.

Back down to the area of the explosion, Bakugo was standing close to Izuku who was still sitting up weakly on the ground that was surrounded by debris. On the screen it looked like the blonde was getting more and more confident over his battle - his opponent on the ground, weak and vulnerable. It seemed like it was inflating his ego, causing him to get cocky thinking he had won. But seeing that the green haired wasn't paying attention to him, he started to get angrier.

"Sir, you should stop them! That Bakugo's really crazy! He's gonna kill him!" The class was starting to get worried about the match, things were out of hand and their teacher wasn't doing anything about it.

They all looked to All Might wondering what he was going to do about this, he stood strong and confident looking on with his smile firmly on his face.

"No…" He lifted the small microphone to his face and gave Bakugo a warning.

"Young Bakugo, the next time you use that, I'll stop the fight and your team will lose. To attack on such a large scale inside is inviting the destruction of the stronghold that you should be protecting. That is a foolish plan for both heroes and villains! You will lose a lot of points for it!"

After hearing that warning Bakugo just blasted forward seemingly without a thought in his mind, the fight was renewed again. The explosive boy was once again upon Izuku in a flash, and the freckled boy couldn't dodge it in time since it happened so fast, he swung his fist forward hoping to stop the punch with one of his own. But as quickly he the dusty blonde was on him, he dodged the hopeless counterattack with a blast from his right hand causing him to flip in midair to the boy's blind spot and blinding at the same time. Another explosion burst out of his left a moment before his right once again let out another blast from behind - pushing Midoriya forward from the force of the blast.

It was a smart move, using his left before his right to launch his attack, making sure that he was stabilized in the air so he wouldn't be pushed back by the force of his own attack. The students watched with astonishment.

"He doesn't look like the type to think, but he's more subtle than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"He changed his course in a blast that doubled as a smokescreen and then it did again immediately."

"Getting in a clean hit while fighting against the inertia fine lateral adjustments to the power of the explosions."

"He's too talented...Too talented...Ugh.."

Izumi frowned a bit hearing the analysis of her classmates about the boy, continuing to keep her eyes on the monitor in front of them.

"Even I'll admit that it must have taken some skill to do that, but he's still a hotheaded idiot whose emotions are out of control." Her arms crossed firmly in front of her chest, tense with worry about her shy friend who was still battling against the raging boy.

Some of her classmates turned their attention towards her as she let out that statement. They couldn't help but agree with her to some point, seeing how crazy he was getting during this whole fight showed that he was very volatile.

"He's an idiot…and I can't stand idiots." her voice showed no emotion while saying it, her eyes narrowing a bit as she continued to watch.

Seeing Bakugo swing his right arm towards her friend's back and hitting him hard with his gauntlet she winced, it looked like it hurt badly. Quickly grabbing his arm and with he left hand to let out a series of small bursts - causing his body to turn and bring his prey him before slamming him back down to the cold hard ground.

"This is a lynching!"

"He can just use the capture tape for this exercise and be done with it."

"Those are not the actions of a hero."

"I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing too, but in terms of combat power, Bakugo is a ball of natural instincts."

Getting up again, his body exhausted and out of breath, Izuku started to run down the hall and stop. Striding forward to make sure he didn't get away Bakugo began to speak, at first normally then shouting. Comparing the two boys it definitely looked like the blonde was the superior fighter in this matchup - they both rushed for each other getting ready to clash. Arms cocked back and fist balled everyone knew that this was the final confrontation between the two.

"Sir, this looks bad! I said this looks bad! Sir!"

Seeing that this was going too far, All Might started to call out to the boys with his microphone.

"Both of you, sto-" He paused. As if something stopped him from completing his sentence. His head shot up to the monitor looking at the other monitor with Uraraka and Iida, he saw that the girl was preparing for something by holding onto one of the pillars that was in the room.

The blast landed on its mark while Midoriya's punch went skyward, the force from it scattered the floors above them and blasting through the roof. Seeing that was the signal Uraraka activated her quirk causing herself and the pillar to float, making sure that they were safe from the funnel of air that was surging throughout the room. Lifting the pillar she was holding onto back like a baseball bat she swung and launched the rubble that was in the air at the armored boy who was still protecting the bomb.

Taking a huge leaping while he was distracted by the oncoming rocks - she jumped over his head and released her quirk before landing on the weapon with success this time. She hugged it as if it was a huge plush animal and let her teammate know that the weapon had been retrieved.

Three floors below, Bakugo stood there trembling with the realization that he had lost the match. His face contorted into a snarl as he looked at Izuku who was still standing in front of him. Left-arm bruised and swollen from the use of his quirk and right arm in front of his face - used to absorb the explosion, he still stood. The boy's face looked like it was in shock. And with all that done the timer ran out, the whole class stared in silence at what was in front of them - surely taking in what just happened.

"Hero..Hero team...wins!"

As the announcement was being said Midoriya collapsed to the ground with Bakugo standing right in front of him, staring. In shock as he heard his childhood friend's words, they kept playing over in his head - it was like time had stopped for him. This was a first for him, all those years of being number one that belief has be shaken.

He..he had lost.


	4. The Starting Line

**AN:**

 _Hello again,_

 _I hope you guys had a good week and that everything is going well for you. There's another update for your eyes to read, things are starting to stir. Our main character will have a small encounter with Bakugo so I'm sure you all will be happy about that. Today, the second episode of season 3 came out and I'm super excited about it all. Maybe I'll update this story with every episode that airs, maybe :)_

 _Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please feel free to leave comments if you like. Thank you to everyone that is continuing to read this story, I really appreciate it._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 4**

"What the heck? The losers are pretty much uninjured, and the winners are on the ground…"

"They lose the battle, but won the war, huh?"

"This is training, though."

The whole class that had watched the match continued to murmur about the results and how the battle went. Meanwhile, All Might was standing inside the decrepit building watching the medic robots wheel out his unconscious student who was headed to the nurse's office to get treatment. He then turned looking at Bakugo, who was still standing in the same spot - body trembling. The boy was looking at his hand in bewilderment trying to process everything that happened during the fight between them. He couldn't believe it, his moves were predicted and he had lost the exercise on top of that. The blonde kept hearing those words from Deku, they were causing him to pant heavily as if he was having a panic attack about the possibility of him being overshadowed by him.

A large hand was placed upon the young boy's shoulder, breaking him out of the spinning cycle of his own mind. A tiny gasp came out of his mouth as he was snapped back into reality - it was barely noticeable but All Might heard it.

"Come back, Young Bakugo. It's time to review the results. Whether you win or lose, looking back and learning from your experiences is apart of life."

Red irises shaking and face in a cold sweat the blonde lowered his head, his eyes covered in shadow and followed his teacher back to the monitor room to hear what there was to say. He didn't even notice that they stopped to pick up Iida and Uraraka before continuing on their way, he was numbed by what just happened.

"The MVP for this battle was Young Iida!" All Might announced to the class while the three of them were standing in a line in front of everyone.

The mentioned boy looked shocked at hearing those words, he felt like he didn't do anything that would deserve such praise. And so did the class as well, sounds of surprise went throughout the room.

"It's not either of the winners, Ochaco or Midoriya?"

"Hmm, well...Why is that? Does anyone know?"

People began to mumble to themselves trying to figure out the reason as to why that is. How could the one winners of the match not be MVP? Finally the girl with the upswept ponytail and revealing red costume raised her hand with a serious expression on her face.

"Yes, Mr. All Might. That is because Iida was the most adapted to the training situation. Just from watching the match, Bakugo-san acted on his own out of a personal grudge he held against his opponent. And as you said before, it's foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors. In the same way, Midoriya-san considering the damage he received, his plan was also rash.

Uraraka-san, she let her guard down mid-battle and her final attack was too dangerous. If she treated the paper-mache as a real weapon she wouldn't have been able to do something like that.

Iida-san had prepared for his enemy's arrival and assumed there would be a fight over the weapon, which made him react too late to the final attack that was launched against him. The hero team won ONLY because this was a training exercise."

The entire class just stared at the girl after that long monologue, even All Might was amazed at how in depth the analysis was. He didn't think a student would be so observant of the whole match.

"W-Well, Young Iida also has parts that could be more flexible, but that is correct!" His voice was a bit shaking at first before ending it with a thumbs up and a huge smile.

"We should always start with the basics to develop depth of learning. We must devote ourselves wholeheartedly. Otherwise, we cannot become top heroes."

 **Momo Yaoyorozu. One of the four students that was admitted through recommendations.**

"All right everyone, let's change the location and start with the second match. Tackle this training after thinking what we just talked about."

"Yes, sir!"

The rest of the class gathered around in front of All Might while he was getting ready to draw the next teams from the boxes. Izumi, on the other hand noticed that Bakugo wasn't really making any moves to join - he continued to stand where he was.

' _Seems to me that he finally realized that he has a lot of work to do after hearing that lecture. Whatever, not my problem. He got what was coming to him after acting like that.'_

She turned back to face in front of her, getting ready to hear which teams might be going next. It was Team B against Team I, the hero team was Todoroki and Shoji with the villain team consisting of Ojiro and Hagakure. They headed to building B since the A was destroyed and was unfit to fight in, of course - the two boys standing outside waiting for the signal to start. While the villain team was gearing up to fight against the heroes, Hakagure even took off her gloves and shoes to show that it was time to get serious.

"Now, let's start the second match of the combat training match!" The buzzer sounded off.

 **Shoji Mezo. Quirk: Dulpi-Arms.**

Shoji lifted his tentacles, at the end of which one was an ear - trying to pinpoint the enemy team's locations inside the building. After gathering the information he had, then relayed it to his partner. Then for some reason he walked outside and just waited, could be that his teammate he everything under control or something like that - the class wasn't sure. So they just waited to see what was going to happen next, and they were not disappointed.

The other half of the hero team continued to walk in the building further before stopping, his hand releasing steam before he placed it gently on the wall beside him. In an instant ice crystals began to cover the walls, floors and ceilings of the building. He put everything that was inside in a layer of ice - it was impressive to say the least, the boy had excellent control over his quirk.

The ice covered everything in its wake, that induced the other team's feet. They couldn't move at all with the ice restricting their movements - the blonde boy with the tail dressed in a karate uniform was the one guarding the weapon. He looked up from his feet as he started to hear footsteps coming closer and closer to the door - he knew the situation wasn't good. He saw the dual-haired boy walk in with a serious and somber look on his face, raising his tail and having his hands in a fighting position he waited.

In the monitor room, everyone was shivering at the sudden temperature drop as the room was also covered in a layer of ice. They all huddled up closer together than they normally would trying to keep warm, with snot dripping down his nose and teeth chattering All Might commented on the match, seeing that Todoroki had planned from the start.

"He didn't cause any damage to his teammate or the weapon, on top of that, he weakened the enemy."

"He's so strong!"

Placing a hand on the now frozen weapon, the match was declared over with the hero team winning. With that confirmation, Todoroki let out a burst of heat and as quickly as it had been frozen - the entire building started to thaw out.

 **Shoto Todoroki. Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot. Freezing with the right and burning with the left.**

"W-Wow!"

"What's up with that quirk?"

"As expected from someone who got in through recommendations."

Once again the class was abuzz with chatter talking about Shoto's overpowered quirk. It was very impressive and flashy, no doubt he would be someone to watch for. He was probably the strongest out of all of them there, Izumi smiled with excitement at the thought of one day fighting him. She would need to train hard if she wanted to have a fun fight with that boy.

' _It would be a battle that I would never forget, that's for sure.'_ She continued to smile, so much so that she needs to bite her bottom lip from it breaking out into a creepy grin.

"Alright, everyone gather around for a review of the second match. Next, we will begin the third match!"

The third match was Team J, Sero, and Kirishima as the villains and Team H, Toyokami and Asui.

The fourth matchup was Team C Mineta and Yaoyorozu (Villains) vs Team G Kaminari and Jiro.

Finally it was Izumi's turn, facing off against Team F - Kota and Sota who were the villains of this match while her and Ashido, Team E were the heroes. Walking in confidently ready to show everyone her abilities she smiled widely, even as her partner slid past her tossing her acid in the air with excitement.

"Hey, Ashido. Wait for a second, I have a way to figure out where the weapon might be."

"Oh, oh what is it?! How does it work?" She asked excitedly coming closer to see what would happen.

Smiling just a tiny bit Izumi closed her eyes and concentrated on pulling the shadows around closer to her body, it formed a black inky pool underneath her feet. It was like it had a life of its own - it moved and swirled before it suddenly pulsed out away from the girl. The shadows travelled all throughout the building quickly covering every inch of the place, before returning to simple shadows once again.

"Since I can manipulate shadows I can gather them around me and send out a kind of pulse over things. It's handy for finding things I'm looking for. Seems that the villain team is on the fourth floor in the back, let's go."

They both quickly made their way to said floor and moved quietly making sure that their footsteps couldn't be heard so they could get a surprise attack on the enemy. Coming up on an open door the two girls could hear a voice that was talking to someone.

"Hey Kota, whatcha think that black stuff was? Could be some kind of quirk one of the hero team has?" A yellow suited boy asked his teammate. He had his face covered with a cowl leaving only the lower half of his face out.

His partner was dressed in red and yellow, he looked a bit shy and he didn't speak - just nodding to answer his partner.

Since the girls didn't really know much about the other team's quirks, they needed to come up with a plan before they could go inside to confront them. The yellow guy looked like he was very strong, he was muscular and tall - meaning he could be more of a close range type of fighter. While the other boy was a bit more of an unknown, Izumi couldn't really figure out what his quirk could be.

"Hey, how good are you with your acid?" Izumi's voice was lowered making sure that the boys on the other side of the door couldn't hear her.

"I'm more of a long distance kinda gal, but that doesn't mean I'm a pushover when it comes to fighting up close, hehehe!" Ashido grinned widely.

"Perfect, alright then. Think you can take the big yellow guy? He looks more of a brawler and since your acid is more long range it would be a good matchup. I'll take the quiet kid. Sound good?" With a nod the pink girl was ready for action.

"When I say the word, we go in and attack."

With that out of the way they just needed a distraction to get the jump on them, it was best since the boys would automatically react without thinking - probably leaving an opening to the weapon. It then struck Izumi what she needed to do, her shadow beneath her feet began to reach out into the room, keeping close to the walls to make sure that it would be hidden. Her shadow melded with others causing her to gain control of those ones as well before they started to condense and form into the shape of balls that floated in the air. That seemed to get their attention just enough to strike.

"H-Hey, what are those black balls doing..?"

The shadow balls drifted slowly in the air, looking harmless and innocent enough. After a few moments of silent observing the balls slowed to a stop surrounding them on all four sides, then they started to wiggle - their form becoming slight wavered and then solidifying. In an instant the crashed down separating the villain team, and a serious female voice sounded through the air.

"NOW!"

The girl rushed into the room in a flash, keeping their guards up just in case of any trouble that would arise. On the right was the boy in the yellow costume and Ashido ran towards him before he would realise that she was even on him, she released some of her acid melting the floor between him and the weapon so he couldn't easily reach it. Izumi on the other hand turned her attention to the other boy, the quiet one, she noticed that some of her shadow balls were still in tact and used them in that moment. Since she didn't really know what his quirk was it would be best to keep him from making even a single move.

Reaching her right arm out she gathered the rest of the remaining balls into her palm before turning it onto the confused boy. The now single big shadow sphere flew towards its intended target, making contact and contracting around the body - tightening into a full body restraint jacket. His arms were moved to behind his back and legs bound together to keep him from even standing up straight.

"Don't even think about moving anything, if you do then my shadows with squeeze you tighter. I'm sure you don't want that, now do you?" Izumi's voice was cold and hard, letting him know she meant business.

Her eyes were like looking into a deep part of an ocean, parts where the safety of the sun started to fade and was the dangers of those waters lurked. The poor boy looked like he was about to faint from terror as he heard her words coming out of her mouth, he nodded his head furiously hoping that she wouldn't carry out her threat. Seeing that he understood Izumi smiled a bit and the look in her eyes softened as well.

"Good. Nothing personal though, I just like winning," she said before running off to the weapon and looking over to see how her partner was doing holding off her muscled opponent.

Ashido was making sure that she kept moving, not wanting to get caught by the boy. Her boots letting out a trail of acid that helped her glide along the floor with ease, while she continued with her long ranged attacks. Meanwhile, the big lipped teen looked totally different from the last time Izumi saw him - his muscles had grown larger and he seemed like he was dumber? She wasn't fully sure but with how Ashido kept skating rings around him she figured that something was off.

Anyway, seeing that her fellow teammate had everything under control with her situation, she continued to make her way towards the nuclear weapon. Placing her hand on it, a buzzer sounded off letting them know that the exercise was over.

"Hero team wins!"

Hearing those words filled Izumi with a huge amount of satisfaction, looking over at her bound up victim she dispelled her shadows and walking over to the shy boy. Seeing that she was coming he began to fidget and panic as she came closer and closer - not wanting to be around such a scary person. Noticing that he was getting a bit distressed she let out a sigh before speaking softly.

"I didn't mean to freak you out okay? I just take this kind of thing seriously, I hope that I didn't scar you for life or anything." Feeling a bit guilt about how she scared him, he looked like he couldn't hurt a fly.

Hoping that her words would be enough to put him at ease she walked away, not wanting to cause him any more distress than he was already under. She waved to Ashido, seeing that the girl was jumping excitedly at their win.

"We did it! We won, awesome job Izu-chan!" She shouted as she flailed her arms around.

"Please don't call me that Ashido-san, Toshihara is fine."

"Boo, that's so boring. What about Mi-chan then? It sounds so cute!"

"..No."

"You're no fun at all!" She crossed her arms over her chest as she pouted. Sighing Izumi extended her shadow over the gap that Mina had made when they rushed in. A black pathway had formed and waiting to be crossed, the other two students made their way across.

"I don't like people calling me nicknames. Unless they're close friends, besides I'm fun when I want to be."

"Ouchies, and here I thought we would be besties for life Mi-chan!"

Looking over to her partner after hearing that nickname again, her navy eyes narrowed slightly and held a cold annoyed expression. Ashido shrank away from the look shivering , it made her feel like she was getting stared down by her own mother - she didn't like the feeling. Quickly scurrying past Izumi who continued to look at her with those eyes the entire way back to the monitor room.

The doors slid open as both teams stepped inside and stood in front of the class waiting to hear the review of the match that had taken place. Having so many eyes on her made Izumi kind of nervous but she didn't allow that to show on her face, she needed to hide those feelings away.

"Alright then class, let us review the match we just saw!" All Might standing there with his arms wide, inviting the thoughts of the students out in the open.

"Well, I thought Toshihara was pretty cool. Not only did she find the enemy team, she even made a plan."

"Yes, since she didn't really have full knowledge of her enemies' abilities she decided to go with a plan from what little information she knew. While making sure that her teammate was matched up with a foe that was at a disadvantage since Sato is a close-range fighter.

She also made sure that the enemy team didn't have enough time to react to their presence in the room. Using a distraction to draw their attention away from the doorway and catching them off guard. Even as she fought her own opponent she seemed to keep a level head and was quick to react - not wanting to give her enemy any time to think at all. She bound him quickly since she didn't know what kind of quirk he could use and quickly made her way to the objective."

Once again it was Yoayorozu who spoke, pointing out every small detail about the match.

"Yeah, but don't forget that Ashido was also smart too. She cut off a direct path to the weapon while she was fighting with her villain guy, she thought ahead enough to make sure that if she didn't win against him that he would have a tough time making it over that gape she made."

"Yes that's right! Well done Young Ashido and Young Toshihara, your teamwork was truly something to behold. I'm sure you will become fine heroes one day. Though Young Toshihara, did you really need to threaten the poor boy? He was already caught." Her teacher looked over to her with a bit of a concerned expression on his face.

"Hey, I didn't know what else he could do. I wanted all my bases covered, and what could be better than putting a little fear into him? Making sure he didn't do anything."

She shrugged as she explained her reasoning behind what she did, honestly she didn't really see what was wrong about that. It wasn't like she was actually going to hurt the kid - so everything was fine, he listened to her. Sometimes she needed to get tough when using words to making sure that people understood that she meant business.

"Yes, well, don't let that become a habit."

That ended the review part of their match, All Might letting them go before pulling more teams from the boxes to battle against each other next. Uraraka and Iida made their way to Izumi wanting to talk more about her fight.

"You were really cool in that battle Izumi-san! You got the goal in 8 minutes, you're so strong!"

"You fought well Toshihara-kun, it's no wonder that you came in third out of the entire entrance exam!"

Her eye widened as she heard that, she quickly looked around to see if anybody heard what Iida had just said. She shushed him, not wanting people to hear her result.

"Iida-san, I prefer it if people didn't really know about that. I don't really need that kind of attention."

She was a private person, enjoying to keep certain things from people secret so that nobody really knew what she was capable of. It was always best to have a surprise when facing off against other no matter what the situation may be.

"W-What?! You came in third?!"

Covering her friend's mouth with her hand, some of the class turned to look to see what was all the noise was about - but was put off by the dead eye stare that Izumi was giving them all.

"Yes, yes fine. I did come in third during the entrance exam, it's nothing to fuss over. End of story. Nothing amazing."

"Nothing amazing? Nothing amazing?! You were the third best student out of everyone who got accepted into the hero course. No wonder you were so calm and cool during your fight, I bet you didn't even break a sweat."

"That's sweet of you to say Uraraka-san, but I don't really find it all that special. I just worked hard on my skills. My quirk isn't really all that strong compared to others, so I need to be flexible with how I use it."

"How admirable of you Toshihara-kun. A true trait of a hero!"

Iida had his fist clenched as his eyes shined with admiration while Uraraka kept asking questions about Izumi's quirk. Not wanting to give away all her secrets, she made her answers as vague as possible - dropping little hints for her to be satisfied for awhile before turning their attention to the next hero vs villain battle that was showing on the screen.

The rest of the teams went through their battles and it was the end of the class, All Might stood proudly in front of the exit that leads to the changing rooms.

"Good work everyone! We didn't have any major injuries other than Young Midoriya, either! You guys took this seriously! You all did a good job on your first day of training!" He flashed his signature smile and gave a thumbs up.

"To have a normal class after Mr. Aizawa's...it's kind of anticlimactic." Most of the student of Class 1-A nodded in agreement.

"We're free to have proper classes, as well!" All Might's arms spread out wide as if embracing the concept of normal classes.

"Well then, I have to review the result with Young Midoriya! Change and return..to the classroom." and with that he was off in a dead sprint through the tunnel, leaving a trail of dust in his place - cape fluttering behind him in the wind.

"All Might's amazing!"

"Why was he in such a hurry?"

"So cool.."

Seeing that the class was now officially over, they made their way to the changing room to dress in their uniforms before returning to class for the rest of the day.

The color of the sky was bright orange showing that it was late afternoon when Midoriya made his way back to the classroom. One of his arms was still in a cast since his fight from before, seeing that he made it to the Class 1-A door he slid it open and was shocked to see that most of his classmates were still there.

"Oh, Midoriya's here! Good work! I don't know what you were saying during the match, but you were fired up!"

A group of students surrounded him with excitement ready to talk all about his fight and what they all thought about it.

"I can't believe you were able to fight evenly with Bakugo, who was first in the exam!"

"You did a good job dodging!"

"You guys did that in the first match, so the rest of us had to give it our all -"

"You did a good job dodging!"

The poor boy was getting overwhelmed with all the attention he was getting from everyone. One by one the small group that had cornered him at the door started to introduce themselves to him.

"I'm Eijiro Kirishima. We're all going to train together right now." The boy was very friendly and looked like the kind of guy that anyone could rely on. The most prominent feature was his bright red hair and his huge grin, and was charismatic to say the least.

"I'm Hanta Sero." This boy had a flat face with a thin-lipped smile and his elbows were shaped strangely - as if holding something rolled up inside them.

Jumping up and down ready to burst with energy was Mina Ashido. She could barely contain herself and just started to introduce herself a mile a minute. Her arms once again flailing around at her sides and her eyes were wide.

"I'm Mina Ashido! You did a good job dodging!" From behind her a green haired girl popped out also saying her name.

"I'm Tsuyu Asui. Call me Tsu-chan."

Next up was the big lipped boy with brown spikey hair pointing upward. "I'm Sato!"

Looking around at everyone that was in front of him, Izuku began to sweat and panic at how everyone was jumping over themselves to greet him.

"Um...Err.."

"I'm Mineta!" A short boy with purple balls on his head jumped from the floor and launching himself through the air.

"Where the heck you pop out from?" Kirishima was surprised that he didn't notice that the tiny boy was even there in the first place.

Further inside the class Iida was scolding a student called Tokoyami who was sitting on his desk rather comfortably. As the class already knew how the glasses wearing teen felt about desks and how people shouldn't be sitting on them. He continued to lecture the bird-headed boy about how a desk wasn't a chair while his arms moved so quickly that they looked blurred.

"It's not a big deal, is it?"

"Wh-?"

"What's with those hands, anyway?"

Lowering his head in disappointment and shock about how they couldn't understand the importance of rules Iida once again went on a tirade.

"You people...I cannot condone actions that disrespect the desks the great men and women who are our upperclassmen once used!"

"You're too loud."

The group that was by the door turned their attention to the noise that was deeper in the class and spotted Iida being as serious as he always is. The second door opened and a boy with yellow hair with a black lighting bolt was on his bangs - he was holding some textbooks as he looked back to talk with someone who was behind him.

"Hey Uraraka-san, wanna go grab a bite sometime? What do you like?"

Walking in also holding a stack of textbooks was the brown haired girl, who was answering the boy's question when she noticed that Midoriya was back in the class.

"Mochi-Wait, Deku-kun, she didn't heal your injuries?" Running over to her friend with a worried face.

"Oh, uh, it's because of how much stamina I have left, and..Huh?" The boy cut himself off from the middle of his explanation noticing that Bakugo's desk was empty.

"Um, Uraraka, more importantly…Where's Kacchan?"

"We all tried to stop him, but he went home just now without saying anything."

After hearing that the teen rushed out of the room and ran down the hall hoping to catch up with his childhood friend. Knowing that something was about to happen, some of the class made their way to the windows that were looking out and over the main entrance gate - wanting to see what would happen between the two. Coming back from the bathroom Izumi walked into the class and seeing that everyone was at the windows asked what was going on.

"Midoriya chased after Bakugo and we wanna see what happens next."

"Okkaayyy..well as much as I would love to invade their privacy I need to head to my class. So see you guys later." Grabbing her bag from her desk she walked out of the room and slipped her headphones on then cranked up her music to the maximum. Making her way down the stairs stopping at her shoe locker to change her indoor shoes to her more comfortable sneakers.

Meanwhile, as she was making her way through the building to leave - Midoriya had finally caught up with Bakugo.

"Kacchan!"

Hearing his childhood nickname he stopped moving, his hands were in his pockets and his bag slung over his shoulder. He looked over to see what Izuku wanted, his eyes sharp as he glared over at him.

Coming to a stop the green haired teen lowered his eyes to the ground, getting nervous about talking to the aggressive blonde in front of him. His lips trembling as he was considering something.

"There's one thing I feel like I have to tell you. My quirk is something I got from someone else."

"Huh?"

"I can't say from who though! I won't say... But it's like something like out of comic books, but it's true. On top of that I can't control it properly, it's just borrowed power that I haven't made my own yet. That's why... I tried to beat you without using it. But in the end, I couldn't win and had to rely on it."

The blonde continued to listen to what he was saying, the more he heard the more he began to shake in anger. His red eyes narrowing more into a strong glare and his teeth clenched until his jaw was pronounced.

"I've still got a ways to go..that's why...That's why- One day, I will make this quirk my own and beat you with my own power!" Green eyes were filled with determination and strength as he said those words.

Standing there shocked and face making a funny look Bakugo just stood there as if frozen after hearing all that.

"What the hell is that?" He turned his body to face the shy boy.

"'Borrowed power'? You're talking nonsense. What are you trying to do, make me out to be more of a fool than you already have? Huh? What are you trying to say? Today, I lost to you…" His body stiff as his arms were shaking and his face covered by his hair.

"That's all it was...That's all... As I watched the ice guy, I thought 'I can't beat him!'"

Covering his face with his hand he shouted to the sky in frustration at it all.

"Shit! I even ended up agreeing with what that ponytail girl said! Damn it! Damn it, damn it!"

Bringing his hand off of his face and clenching it into a fist as he let out everything he was holding back even since the battle he had against the boy in front of him.

"Hey, you too Deku! I'm just..I'm just getting started! You hear? Here, I will become the number one hero!"

Tears on the corner of his crimson eyes as he shouted out his declaration, the bottom lip being bitten down while he stared down Midoriya. With all that said, he turned around and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve while walking away - leaving with one last thing said.

"You won't beat me again, bastard!"

It was that moment when Izumi finally reached outside, missing the entire thing as she looked up at the sky. Suddenly her hair and skirt shooshed around her as a powerful draft passed her by - wondering what the hell just happened she looked around only to see that All Might was zooming down the path past her friend and holding onto the shoulders of Bakugo.

"There he is! Young...Bakugo! Just so you know, pride is important. You certainly have the abilities needed to become a pro. You still have a lot of-"

"Let go of me, All Might. I can't walk."

Looking down at the boy after hearing that, his smile never leaving his face.

"I'll become a hero that suppresses even you without telling me!"

"Huh? Uh, right." Letting go of the boy's shoulders quickly. The explosive boy returned to walking away from his teacher and Izuku, away from the school.

Coming up from behind a female voice sounded out.

"Hey, Midoriya."

Startled the boy jumped and turned to see that his friend Izumi Toshihara was there, staring at the scene in front of them.

"T-Toshihara-san, w-what are you doing here, I thought everyone was back in class."

"I have my gymnastics class to go today, I can't be late so I left as soon as I came back from the bathroom. It's good to see that you're okay by the way."

She had been worried about him since he wasn't able to join the rest of the class in the afternoon classes. All Might was then next to them standing proudly as the setting sun cast a strong shadow before him.

"Young Midoriya. What were you talking about with Young Bakugo?"

"Um, we were, uh…"

"Hmm, I'm so curious. Why don't you tell me in detail?"

"U-Um, a-actually…"

Seeing that their teacher wasn't going to leave the poor boy alone after hearing what happened, Izumi nudged her friend with her elbow and said her goodbyes for the day.

"Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Feel better soon and rest up. Bye Midoriya, Bye Mr. All Might."

"Bye Toshihara-san, see you tomorrow."

"Farewell Young Toshihara!"

Izumi continued on her way to her class, not wanting to be late for it since it was one of the things she enjoyed doing with her free time. Putting her hands into the pockets of her hoodie she walked past the gate of U.A and down the street before turning the corner to head to the gym. She was coming up on a familiar head of ashen blonde hair - she walked a bit faster to catch up to him, finally reaching to his side.

"Next time don't be stupid and attack a friend, idiot."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Who even are you?"

"Izumi Toshihara, same class as you."

"So you're a friend of that nerd Deku's huh? How about you mind your own damn business."

Taking a few steps closer to the teen, she looked him square in the eye - showing no fear. Her own narrowed and darkened just a bit as her chest puffed out with her back straight showing that she wasn't afraid of him.

"Listen Bakugo, Midoriya is my friend. So technically this is _my_ business, anything that hurts my friends I don't tolerate."

Seeing that the girl wasn't going to back off and leave him be, Bakugo glared at her before closing the distance even more. Trying to make her back a few steps back, showing that he was in control and he could crush her at any time.

"Back off shadow witch, you don't know who you're messing with."

"I'm messing with an asshole who can't control his emotions when it comes to beating people." Not even taking a step backward, though she really wanted to. Izumi didn't like it when other got into her personal space - but this needed to be done to make it clear to him that she wasn't scared of him.

Whatever I don't have time to deal with you, I got places to be. Piss off."

He turned away again and walked off making his way down the hill that lead to the station. Seeing that their small talk was over, Izumi turned left down another street and moved closer to her destination. Thinking back to the encounter she noticed that he was a bit more subdued and his eyes were kind of puffy for some reason.

' _Whatever that was, I'm sure that fight with Midoriya knocked him down a few pegs. He better learn from this or else he's gonna keep being an idiot asshole. I can't believe I'm stuck with him for the rest of my time at U.A.'_


	5. Class rep and the USJ

_Hiya,_

 _I'm glad that they are some of you that find this story interesting enough to heart, thank you very much - it makes me happy to see that people are excited to see the next chapter. We're about to enter the USJ arc in this chapter, and the rest will be action packed until said arc is over and we enter into Season 2._

 _Of course, I'm sure that you're all curious about the abilities of the main character Izumi Toshihara, well don't worry there will be a chapter flushing out her quirk and her appearance. I'm having a friend of mine draw her as well as when she is in her uniform and hero costume, but that will be after the USJ arc. So don't worry about a sudden split from the action._

 _Stay tuned for the next chapter!_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 5**

The sound of many footsteps and chattering was the first thing Izumi noticed when she was making her way to school, looking forward to see what the commotion was about she saw a huge wall of people blocking the gate. They were reporters from almost every news station across Japan - jumping at the chance to speak to any student that crossed their path. Wanting to hear more about All Might teaching at U.A and what were his classes like.

' _Oh my Kami...this is horrible..'_ slowly she started to inch her way around the massive crowd hoping not to get noticed by the hungry frenzied reporters. Sadly, that didn't work out too well, for as soon as a cameraman spotted her she was toast.

A wave of human bodies came rushing towards her and she could do nothing for Izumi was cornered in by all sides. Looking around hoping to find a small hole she could make her way out, but the reporters kept shifting around making it impossible.

"You there, you're a student in the hero course at U.A? Tell us what is All Might like as a teacher?!"

"What kind of lessons has he taught?!"

"Is he truly capable of teaching students?!"

One by one they shot out questions faster than she could answer them and then started to close in around her making it harder to breathe. Talking over each other Izumi could barely even think let alone answering their questions.

' _Dear Kami, I can't stand this. The sound of them talking over each other is annoying and they're starting to piss me off.'_

She took a deep breath before looking at the people surrounding her, dark blue eyes somewhat silencing them. She knew this was finally her time to speak and make a quick statement before dashing off away from them.

"Mr. All Might has taught us the importance of teamwork and guiding us in ways we could improve ourselves. I'm glad to be learning from someone like him, now please excuse me I need to get to my class."

Before they could even think about jumping her again with more questions she used her quirk to cover herself in shadows before melting into the ground. The puddle of inky blackness moved underneath the feet of the reporters and raced towards the gate before rising to take her normal form again. Looking behind her with a satisfied smirk she strode away from the masses with a sigh - happy to be finally out of that situation. She also noticed that they suddenly found a new target to attack with questions, and it was poor Midoriya.

' _I'm sorry Midoriya...I just escaped from that trap I don't wanna jump back into the pit.'_

She quickly made her way to the classroom before anything else happened, like rain or flood of slime. She opened the door to see that some of her classmates were already there, making her way to her seat Izumi was able to finally relax. She hated being in crowded places and the pushiness of people - but they were the media, she knew it was their job and that she's going to have to deal with them more often if she wanted to be a pro-hero.

"Hey Toshihara, I saw that you got jumped by the reporters out front. Slick move you pulled to get away." Kirishima walked up to her with his usual friendly smile and bright personality.

"Y-Yeah, I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Can't stand all that noise they were making."

"Hey, I hear ya. I had to push my way through after I answered their questions, didn't know they could be that aggressive though."

Hearing the sound of the door opening she saw her friends Uraraka, Iida and Izuku walking into the class - seeing them she gave them a quick wave and good morning as they made their way to their desks.

"I can't believe I got stopped for an interview!" Uraraka exclaimed, she looked a bit ragged from her encounter with the mob.

"Indeed, but it's something that we should expect in the future. Pro heroes do a lot of interviews and we must be able to handle ourselves with dignity and confidence when facing them." As always Iida was making a big show as his voice projected across the room.

"H-Hey is that Mr. Aizawa down there?"

Rising from their seat the class moved over to the windows to see what was going on, and indeed Aizawa was there walking away from the swarm of reporters that were posted outside the school grounds. One bold reporter made her way closer to the gate hoping to get an interview with the famous All Might, but the sound of a blaring alarm and steel gates slamming shut could be heard throughout the school. The entire outer wall had those steel barriers pop up and blocked anyone unauthorized to enter the school grounds from entering.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." Izumi commented as she continued to watch the entire perimeter get blocked off.

"Show's over I guess." Sero sighed and the rest of the students moved away from the windows to resume whatever they were doing before.

As she moved away from the windows to make her way back to her seat she bumped into someone she didn't expect. Standing over her and peering down with blood red eye was the explosive bomb boy himself, Bakugo. Hands in his pockets with a scowl on his face pushed past her.

"Watch where you're going Shadow Witch."

With a huff and a glare, she ignored him and walked to her desk just before Aizawa opened the door to start homeroom.

"Good Morning everyone." his tired voice was always something that made Izumi sleepy, it signaled in her mind, that it was time for a nap.

"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video and results. Bakugo, you're talented, so don't act like a kid."

"I know." He let out a sigh as he heard the teacher's comments.

"And Midoriya. You settled on breaking your arm again, huh? You can't keep saying that you can't help it because you can't control your quirk. I don't like repeating myself over and over again. As long as you fix the control issue, there's a lot you'll be able to do. Feel the sense of urgency, Midoriya."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now let's get down to homeroom business. Sorry for the late notice, but today I'll have you.."

Everyone single student in the class leaned forward in their chairs, ready for anything harsh and stress inducing. Another special test? Running through a deadly obstacle course?! Fighting to the point of exhaustion?!

"...decide on a class representative."

The tension that was hanging in the air deflated and a sigh of relief drifted through the entire classroom, then the air started to simmer with excitement as one by one each student stood to plead to their peers in hopes of getting picked.

Kirishima was the first person to jump out of his seat with his arms in the air.

"I want to be the class rep! Pick me!"

Kaminari lifted his hand and expressed the same. As well as Jiro who was sitting right next to the blonde haired boy, Ashido was the next to pop up from the crowd with her arms flailing around in the air attracting people's attention. Mineta was also jumping up and down saying something about the girls' skirt needing to be shorter or something to that effect. Even Bakugo was pumped about getting to be the class representative, his voice was definitely louder than the rest. All of the shouting and came to a sudden stop by a stern glasses wearing student.

"Silence, please! It is a job with serious responsibilities of leading others. It is not a job just for anyone who wants to do it. It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you. If we want to use democracy to decide a leader, then we should hold an election."

Everyone was silenced by his speech, and while it positively made sense Iida's arm was rim rod straight. So straight to the point where it shook at the intensity of how stretched out his arm was.

"Why did you suggest that?"

"We haven't known each other long enough, so how can we have trust or anything like that?"

"If that's the case, and everyone votes for themselves…"

Before Kirishima could even think about finishing that sentence, Iida was already three steps ahead of him.

"Don't you think that's precisely why whoever receives multiple votes here can truly be considered the most suitable for the task? What do you think, Mr. Aizawa?"

Turning his head towards the homeroom teacher only to see that he was already in his yellow sleeping bag.

"I don't care, as long as you figure it out before homeroom is over." and with that said Aizawa tipped over to his side and was out of the conversation, preferring to catch some sleep than deal with something like this.

A few minutes later everyone had placed their slips of paper into a box that Iida had found and then counted the votes. The results were then posted on the board, Midoriya had 4 votes and Yaoyorozu had 2 votes - the remainder of the class each had one vote.

"I got 4 votes!"

"Why Deku?! Who voted for him?!" as always Bakugo was screaming at the top of his lungs in a fit of rage. Looking over to Uraraka, Izumi smiled as she saw her friend looking away from the raging blonde - trying to seem inconspicuous as possible, knowing that she had voted for Midoriya.

"Well, it's better than voting for you."

"What did you say?!"

' _Well I know that she voted for him and I did too, but who's the final vote?'_

Trembling in what looked to be frustration was Iida, his hands were clenched tightly into fists and were placed on his desk. Izumi could even hear him mumbling to himself, he was clearly upset at the results.

"Zero votes...I knew that would happen...That is only to be expected of a person's calling."

The rest of the students in the back row were commenting on his dilemma with sorry looks on their faces as they tried to comfort him.

"You voted for someone else, huh?"

"But you wanted to do it too. What are you trying to do, Iida?"

With shaky step Izuku made his way to the front of the class, his teeth chattering the entire time - while Yoayorozu was assigned deputy class representative.

"S-S-Seriously? Seriously?" the poor boy was quaking in his shoes. The proper girl next to him was less than thrill about the results, probably thinking that Midoriya was unfit to be a class rep.

The rest of the class looked on with approval, well everyone besides Bakugo, and were happy with the people that were chosen. Commenting on the pair's personalities and demeanors, homeroom was over and the day continued on as normal with regular classes such as math and history.

It was finally lunchtime and the cafeteria was packed to the brim with students, people from support, management, and general studies were all having lunch in the same huge room. With their ready Iida, Uraraka, Midoriya, and Izumi made their way to a table sitting down to eat.

"The rice is so delicious!" the sweet brown haired girl commented as she continued to chomp down on her lunch.

"Even though I was chosen for class rep, I don't know if I'm qualified for it." the green haired teen was questioning his new position that he was voted for.

Izumi turning her head as she continued eating her lunch. "I think you are, you're a good leader when it comes to making decisions under pressure."

Iida also seemed to agree with his friend point.

"You are. It'll be fine. It seems Toshihara-kun said, your courage and judgment at critical moments makes you worth following. That's why I voted for you."

"It was you?!"

"Well yeah Midoriya, I did too. Same with Uraraka, we all think that you can be a good leader." placing her hand on the boy's shoulder in reassurance.

"But didn't you want to be class rep too, Iida-kun? I mean you got glasses and everything."

"Wanting to do it and being suitable for it are two different things. I merely did what I thought was correct."

"'Merely?'" three heads turned to look at the blue-eyed straight-laced teen sitting with them.

"You know that's not a word you use everyday Iida."

"Oh, that's.."

Uraraka spoke up before he could say anything else about that. "I've been thinking...Are you a rich boy, Iida?" her brown eyes peering at him.

"Rich?! I tried to change the way speak because I didn't want to be called that." looking away hoping that his friends wouldn't really talk about it anymore. Sadly, that only made them all the more interested - leaning in closer with eyes looking at him expectedly.

"Yes, my family has been heroes for generations. I'm the second son."

"What?! WOW?!"

"Do you know the turbo hero, Ingenium?"

Izuku automatically jumped up speaking a bit more loudly than his usual tone of voice, it was his fanboy mode in action.

"He's a really popular hero who had sixty-five sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency! Don't tell me…!"

"He is my older brother!" Iida stood proudly with his hands on his hips, he was obviously extremely proud of his sibling.

"He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads others. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother. However, I think it's still too early for me to lead other people. Unlike me, Midoriya-kun realized the point of the entrance exam, so he is more suitable for the job." he looked at his friend fondly and a gentle smile on his face.

The remaining three that were listening to their friend looked a bit shocked at the smile.

"This is the first time I've seen you smile Iida-kun."

"What, really? I smile!"

The small group of friends was happy to learn more about Iida and his goals. What drives him to become a hero in the first place, it made them look upon him with admiration to have a good reason to become a hero.

"About the entrance exam…"

Midoriya was just about to finish that sentence when suddenly a loud alarm started to blare out through the cafeteria. All the student looked up at where the sound was coming from, stopping whatever they were doing to pay attention.

"An alarm?!"

-There has been a level three security breach. All students, please evacuate outdoor promptly. I repeat -

Iida turned to another student sitting next to him and asked what a level three breach is. The boy quickly answered his question, saying it means that someone is trespassing on the school grounds. In a panic everyone was getting up from their seats, leaving everything behind as they all rushed towards the doors - people were pushing and shoving each other hoping to make it out first. The four friends were crushed together between the frightened students.

"What's going on all of a sudden?" Uraraka was being pushed against another student, Izumi reaching out to help her friend - she pushed her away through blocking the shifting bodies in order to get some breathing room for her friends.

"I thought that people would be a bit more calm with trying to evacuate, they're all just willing to trample over each other to get to safety. Inconsiderate idiots."

With all the shoving caused the friends to separate from each other, calling out their names as they started to get carried away by a mob. Iida, who was pressed against a window spotted what was causing the alarm to sound off - the media. A bunch of reporters were able to break through the barrier surrounding the school and were now at the front entrance demanding to get a comment about All Might.

Kirishima and Kaminari were trying to calm the crowd down with no success, and they were quickly swept away like a tidal wave crashed over them. Hearing a girlish cry Iida looked up and saw Uraraka reaching out her hand hoping that he would be able to grab her. Izumi had fallen to the ground and was getting stepped on, she quickly went into shadow form to avoid getting trampled to death by the feet of the other students. She could still feel their feet walking all over her but it wasn't as horrible now than before.

Thinking about what his brother would do in this situation Iida got an idea, he reached out his hand to Uraraka.

"Uraraka-kun, make me..Make me float, Uraraka-kun!"

The girl squeezed her arm through the crowd separating them and her fingers reached Iida at the second try. Activating her quirk, Iida began to float into the air - glasses falling off of his face. The look he had was one of determination as his eyes looked straight ahead towards the exit sign, rolling up the bottom of his pants to activate his engine to make his way over the crowd.

"Engine boost!"

The thrust from his boosters caused him to flip through the air comically before slamming into the opposite wall that held the exit sign over the door. Grabbing onto a pipe above his head he looked over at the crowd.

"Everyone, everything is fine!"

Hearing that loud bellowing voice caused all the panic to stop and head tilted upwards to see who was speaking. They all saw Iida, with his legs trembling as he was trying to maintain his position over the door.

"It is just the media! There is nothing to panic about. Everything's fine! This is U.A. Let us act in a way befitting the best of the best."

The air in the hall that everyone was in relaxed and the students looked over to the windows to see that the police were there and were taking care of the crazy reporters that broke into the school grounds.

After the entire fiasco lunch was over and everyone made their way back to class, once all of Class 1-A was in the room - Midoriya and Yoayorozu stood in the front of the class.

"Come on class rep, start."

Still not used to having all eyes on him Izuku was hunched over with wide eyes and his body shaking nervously.

"N-Now, let us decide on the other class officers...But first, can I say something?"

After a small pause, he continued. "I think...that Tenya Iida should be the class rep after all! He was able to get everyone's attention in such a cool way. I think it would be best for Iida-kun to do it."

Midoriya looked over at his friend while he was speaking, having a calm smile on his face as spoke. Iida looked at the boy standing in front of the class with surprise, a voice spoke out from the silence.

"I'm good with that too."

It was Kirishima's voice, the spiky redhead was also looking over at Iida with a grin on his face.

"Midoriya's saying it, and it's true that Iida was a big help today in the cafeteria." looking over to Kaminari who was sitting right in front of him. He also saw what Iida did that the time and agreed.

"Yeah, and he kinda looked like the person on the emergency exit signs, didn't he?"

"You're wasting time." breaking the tender moment that was happening was Aizawa. He was in his usual sleeping bag cocoon sitting on the floor - looking like he was about to drop into a dead sleep.

"I don't care what you do, just hurry up and do it."

Standing up from his seat Iida spoke with gracious tone.

"If the class representative has nominated me, then it cannot be helped. From this day forth, I, Tenya Iida, promise to do my best to carry out the duties of the class representative."

"We're counting on you, Emergency Exit!"

"Emergency Exit Iida!"

"Do your best!"

"For today's hero basic training, it's turned into a class with three instructors, All Might, myself and one more person."

The students of 1-A looked up at Aizawa with curiosity upon hearing that there would be two other teachers for their training session. Sero raised his arm, "Excuse me! What'll we be doing?"

With perfect timing, Aizawa showed them a flashcard - one like All Might had during their first hero training class. On it in bold blue letter was written Rescue.

"Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between. It's rescue training."

Some faces showed their excitement at the idea of training for rescues while other looks a bit worried. It was the main duty of a hero to keep other safe and when disasters arise, it was also their job to help those in need. Everyone was commenting on their quirks and how skilled they would be when rescuing others.

"Hey, I'm not done yet." Aizawa's face when deadpan as he looked over the class with a tired annoyed eye. Immediately, it was quiet.

"You can decide if you want to wear your costumes or not this time. Because there are probably costumes that limit your abilities, too. The training will take place off-campus, so we're taking a bus. That's all, start getting ready."

The class rose from their desks and headed towards the wall where the costume cases were, most of the class decided to wear their costumes - while Midoriya's was destroyed from his fight with Bakugo. He had to wait for the support course to make a new one for him, but he did have some upgraded elbow and knee guards with a mask hanging loosely around his neck.

Once everybody was ready and dressed they all waited outside the school gates, walking over to Uraraka greeting her before Izumi spotted Izuku.

"Oh, you're wearing your P.E clothes. Where's your costume?"

"They got ripped up during training last time, remember Uraraka."

"That's right, I'm waiting for the support company to fix it."

A loud whistle cut off the conversation, there was Iida directing the class to form two lines for boarding the bus easily. The three friends smiled at each other seeing that the boy was taking his new position seriously - it was the right call to make him class representative, it's like the teen was made for the job.

Unfortunately for Iida, the bus' interior was much more spacious than the normal and there was no problem for students to board. There were to rows of benches facing each other in the front, while in the back was seated like a regular bus, seeing that the back was available Izumi made a straight dash towards her preferred place. A seat near the back with a window to look out and watch the world go by.

' _It's a very desirable seat, so many people always make a rush for those spots first before going anywhere else.'_

Sitting down in the best spot on the bus, she pulled out her headphones and listened to her music once again - she always did this during travel. It was very relaxing having a soundtrack while watching the scenery go by, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window she closed her eyes. She felt the rest of the bench sink in signaling that someone had sat next to her, opening her eyes to check to see who it was - she was startled to find that it was Bakugo.

' _Oh dear Kami, why did he have to sit here of all places..'_

Feeling that someone was watching him the blonde looked over at her and stood up in surprise.

"What the hell, why are you sitting here?!"

"I was here first and I refuse to move, this is literally the best spot on the bus - so deal with it." arms crossed with her face looking one hundred percent serious.

"Well, move somewhere else Shadow Witch! I wanna sit here!" he was not taking no for an answer, the vein on the side of his forehead started to pulse.

"Like I said idiot, best spot and was here first. Too bad, if you don't like it then tough." navy blue eye bore into the boy in front of her, seeing that she wasn't even going to make a move Bakugo just crossed his arms over his chest and plopped down in the seat.

"Tch, fine whatever. Don't even think about talking to me, you dumbass."

"Wasn't even going to, loser. And don't call me a dumbass.." shoving him with her elbow.

Rising up again angrily at being pushed he screamed into her face, spit flying. "You wanna fight me?! I bet I can beat your ass in 10 seconds flat!"

"What happened to not talking to each other? Also, gross. Don't spray your spit at me!"

Having enough of the bickering from his two students, Aizawa spoke up from the front.

"Enough you two, the bus is moving. Sit down."

The two teens glared at each other with heated frenzy before they both took their seats. Facing opposite directions and refusing to even look at each other, the rest of the class sighed in relief now that the tension was seemingly over. As the bus kept moving, the atmosphere was starting to get lighter and conversations turned to the other students' quirks.

"Midoriya.."

"Um, yes, Asui-san?"

"Call me Tsu-chan."

"R-Right."

The frog girl turned to look at Izuku with dead eyes and pointed out that his quirk was similar to All Might's. Hearing this the boy began to get flustered that the comparison, that was until Kirishima, who was sitting next to the two jumped in.

"Wait a sec Tsu-chan, All Might doesn't get hurt when he uses his. They just kinda look the same. But it's nice to have a simple augmentation type quirk. You can do a lot of flashy stuff!" lifting his own arm, Kirishima activated his own quirk.

"My Hardening's strong against others, but it doesn't look like much."

"I think it's really cool!" green eyes widening in amazement at Kirishima's ability. Midoriya was always a huge fanboy at heart and continued to find quirks amazing.

"It's definitely a quirk that could pass for a pro's!"

"A pro's, huh? But you have to think about popularity as a hero, too, you know. Now if you're talking flashy and strong, it's gotta be Todoroki and Bakugo, though, huh?"

Hearing his name, Bakugo's attention was now turned to the conversation that was happening in the front part of the bus.

"Bakugo-chan's always mad, so he doesn't seem like he would be popular, though."

Having heard Asui's comment Izumi giggled at the jab towards the explosive boy's personality. Also hearing the girl the ashen blonde stood up in a rage and started shouting yet again.

"What the hell, you wanna fight!"

"See?"

"We haven't known each other that long, so it's amazing that everyone knows his personality is crap steeped in sewage."

After hearing that one Izumi couldn't hold back anymore and let out a bark of laughter, just listening everyone smack talk the raging boy was just too funny. She looked over to him just to see what his face would look like - and it did not disappoint either, he looked like he was ready to jump over to the railing and start a brawl right there in the bus. Izumi continued laughing holding her stomach, finding it hard to breathe.

"What the hell is that vocabulary, bastard?! I'll kill you!" he snapped his neck towards the girl laughing next to him.

"Shut up you dumb idiot, your laughing is grating on my ears!"

Izumi was still laughing as the boy was yelling at her. "Oh my gosh, this is just too funny for words! This is the best!"

"We're here. Stop messing around."

"Yes, sir!"

As the bus was pulling up towards the huge dome building everyone peered out the windows in awe at how big it was. Finally coming to a stop the door opening and class 1-A filed out before climbing up the stairs to stand in front of the main door inside. The door in front of the door to reveal the final teacher that would be with them for basic training.

:"Everyone, I've been waiting for you." standing in front of the class was The Space Hero: Thirteen. The class looked at the hero with admiration talking about his past deeds with rescuing people from disasters and the like. Midoriya had his hands over his mouth while his green eye sparkled with excitement and adoration. Uraraka was pretty much in the same boat as her friend.

"Oh, I love Thirteen!"

Lifting his arm to show the way, he ushered the students inside the building. As soon as they got inside, they could see tons of areas - some with collapsed buildings, a shipwreck, one with a mountain and many more.

"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm and many others. It is a training ground that I made with different kinds of accidents and disasters. It's called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!"

Coming up from behind the student Aizawa asked Thirteen where was All Might, the cute space hero whispered something in the other's ear.

"Let's see, before we begin, let me say one thing...or two..or three...Everyone as you know my quirk is Black Hole. I can suck things up and turn it into dust."

"You've been able to use that quirk to save people from all kinds of disasters, right?" Izuku chimed in while Uraraka to his left was nodding furiously in agreement.

"Yes, but that power can easily kill." Hearing that the smiles that were on the students face fell as they continued to listen to the hero.

"Some of you also have quirks like that, right? In a superhuman society, personal quirks have been certified and regulated, so that doesn't seem like a problem at first glance. However, please don't forget that they are many quirks that can kill with one wrong step.

With Aizawa's fitness test, you found out the possibility of your own powers - and with All Might's person-to-person combat training, I think you have experienced the dangers of using those powers against others. This class is a fresh start. You shall learn to use your quirks to save people's lives. You don't have powers so you could harm others, I hope you leave here understanding that you have powers in order to help people.

That is all, thank you for listening." Thirteen took a bow and the student all clapped after hearing the small speech.

"Alright then, first-"

The lighting in the USJ crackled and dimmed, everyone looked up wondering what was going on or if this was always a part of the class. The water fountain in the middle malfunctioned, and what seemed like swirling air began to form in front of it. Purple-ish black mist circled around - as if a portal was opening up. Aizawa sensed something sinister was going on and snapped his head around towards the fountain. A hand reached out from the swirling blackness before a lanky young man walked out - red eyes peeking out from a hand that was attached to his face.

"Gather together and don't move!" Mr. Aizawa stated to the class in an urgent tone of voice, he turned towards Thirteen and asked him to guide the students out of the building while he held off the villains.

Kirishima was the first of the class to notice that something wasn't right, he took a small step back. "What's that?"

In the distance, more and more villains just poured out of the portal.

"Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson already started?"

"Don't Move!" hearing the stern voice of their homeroom teacher, they stopped in their tracks. Aizawa put on his eye goggles, the air around him had changed from lazy tired teacher to pro hero in an instant.

"Those are villains."

The class stood there in shock at what was happening, some of them trembled in fear at the suddenly dangerous situation. How on earth did villains make their way into U.A?!


	6. Divided, but not Conquered

_Hello everyone,_

 _There's the next chapter of the USJ arc, I had to combine episode 10 and 11 together since at first this chapter was only 4 pages long. I didn't feel like there was a proper way to cut off in that episode so I continued into the next episode._

 _Oh boy, the next chapter of this story is going to be epic. The battle scene is going to a great thing to write and I'm very excited to get it started soon._

 _I would like to thank everyone who continues to read this story and gave hearts, it makes me very happy. Now without further ado on with the chapter._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 6**

The army of villains moved forward, crowding around the fountain and looking around to see where they were and who they would fight. Pulling down on his bandages the fabric unfurled around Aizawa, his hair lifting from his head pointing up - his expression serious and deadly. Class 1-A stood behind Thirteen who had his arm up preventing anyone else from moving and ready to protect them if need be. The three villains that really caught their attention were the misty black figure dressed formally in a suit, some kind of bird person monster with red wires coming out of its' arms and brain exposed. While the one who looked like the leader had hands placed all over the upper half of his body - messy light blue hair covering most of his red eyes.

"What villains?!"

"There's no way they could get into the school!"

"Mr. Thirteen, what about the trespasser sensors?" Yaoyorozu broke through from the back of the class looking at the teacher for answers.

"We have them of course, but…"

"Did they only appear here or the whole school? Either way, if the sensors aren't working, then that means they have someone with a quirk that can do that. An isolated area away from the main campus during a time when a class is supposed to be here. They might be fools, but they're not dumb. This is a surprise attack that was carefully planned with a goal in mind."

Hearing Todoroki's words the students stood in silence, now knowing the full gravity of the situation in front of them. Walking a bit further in front of the group Aizawa told Thirteen to start moving the class away from the building and attempt to contact the school.

"Kaminari. You try using your quirk to contact the school as well."

"Yes sir." placing his hand over his antenna, Kaminari started getting to work on trying to call for help.

Midoriya spoke up in a panic with his green eye widen with fear, "What about you sir? Will you fight them all by yourself? With that many enemies, even if you can erase their quirks...Eraserhead's fighting style is capturing after erasing the enemy's quirk. A frontal battle is…"

"You can't be a one trick pony if you want to be a hero. I'm leaving it to you, Thirteen." he leaned forward before jumping high into the air and down the staircase at great speed.

The enemy saw him coming and prepared to attack the incoming hero that was now running right at them. In a flash Aizawa activated his quirk just before they were about to attack, wondering why their quirks weren't worked the enemy looked confused - they didn't even notice the hero launched his bandages to capture them. The cloth wrapped around them tightly as they were tossed into the air before being yanked downward and their heads collided with each other, knocking them out. More villain was surrounding Aizawa and they realized who he was. One of the more brash villains charged the teacher attacking him with his multiple arms that were encased in some kind of rock.

Expertly dodging the swinging arms, Aizawa saw a moment to throw a strong punch right in the enemy's face. With a turn, he threw another bandage - catching the guy by the foot, and effectively dodged an attack from behind him. He quickly counterattacked with a kick to the head before turning his attention back on his captured prey, pulling the cloth caused it to release the villain's foot which made him land into a small group of enemies. Deactivating his quirk the lanky man still stood in the middle of the enemies, ready to counter any attacks that would be sent his way.

Choosing another target, he jumped kicked a female villain in the face while having his capture weapon wrap around another person behind him. Disposing of those two, he then turned, continuing attacking the mass of villains while in the background the students were making their escape away from the USJ.

Midoriya was still standing at the staircase looking on in amazement at his teacher and the skills he possessed. Iida noticing the boy wasn't following the rest of the class called him over.

"This is no time for analysis! Hurry up and take shelter!"

The would-be- heroes continued to run towards the main exit, but before it could be reached a swirling black mist appeared in front of them blocking their way out.

"I won't let you."

Cursing himself for not fully noticing that the most annoying villain had caught up with his class. Quickly getting rid of a villain, Aizawa turned to head towards the fleeing class but was blocked off by his enemies.

A gentlemanly voice came out of the misty mass and started to introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you. We are the League of Villains. It may be presumptuous of us, but we have invited ourselves into the home of heroes, U.A high school, in order to have All Might, the symbol of peace, to take his last breath. I believe he should have been here. Has there been some kind of change? Well, that's neither here nor there. This is the part that I play."

Thirteen had stealthy opened one of his fingers to use his black hole against the person in front of them but was stopped when Bakugo and Kirishima leaped into the air to attack. They swung their arms simultaneously, a huge explosion went off covering the area in smoke.

"Did you even consider that you'd get beaten by us before you did?" Kirishima taunting the villain out loud into the air, confident that he was no more.

The smoke slowly started to clear, and they could see that the enemy was still standing, the attack completely going through the villain's body has no effect on him

whatsoever.

"Oh dear, that's dangerous. That's right, even if you're all students, you are excellent golden eggs."

Thirteen called the two boys to move out of the way so he could use his own quirk, but it was too late to act.

"My job is to scatter you all and torture you to death!" misty black tendrils surrounded the entire class quickly. Iida grabbed Uraraka and Sato and jumped to the side as to not get carried away, while Shoji used his huge body to cover Ashio and Sero - protecting them from what was happening. Looking up from the outside Iida saw that the remaining students were trapped in a swirling purple black dome.

"Everyone..!"

A black portal opened up in the collapse zone and Izumi was tossed into a building, still slightly confused as to where and how she got there she dusted herself off and gained her bearings. She barely had any time to react before she was attacked, dodge rolling out of the way she took up a battle ready stance. Her eyes scanned the room, looking to see how many villains were in the same room with her - counted five. Seeing that there was no other option but to fight or flee she decided to stick to her guns and fight!

Meanwhile, the students who were able to avoid getting carried away still stood on the top of the staircase - Shoji using his tentacles to scout the areas trying to get information.

"Shoji-kun, is everyone here? Can you check?" Iida's voice was stressed.

"Everyone's scattered but they're all still in the building."

They breathed a sigh of relief finding out that their classmates were still in the area, then they looked towards the misty black mass that remained. Thirteen turned to Iida gaining his attention, he told the boy that he needed to make it to the school and get help.

"Run to the school and tell them what's happening here. The alarms aren't sounding off, and our phones don't have a signal. The alarm system is based on infrared rays, even though Eraserhead is using his quirk left and right - they're still not working. Which mean they have someone with an interference quirk who hid right when they arrived.

It would be faster for you to run than for us to track him down."

"But it would be a disgrace as the class rep to leave everyone behind-"

"Go Emergency Exit! If you can get outside, there are alarms. That's why these guys are only doing this on the inside, right?" Sato stepped forward getting ready to fight against the enemy that was blocking the exit. Soon Sero joined the yellow-clad teen at his side.

"As long as you go outside, they won't follow you! Blow this fog away with your legs!"

"Use your quirk to save others!" hearing Thirteen speak those work Iida understood what he needed to do.

"I can totally support you like I did in the cafeteria! I will! Please, class rep!"

With a determined look on his face, Iida readied himself in a sprint position - ready for the smallest opening so he could make a dash towards the outside to get help. The warp villain mocked them about their plan.

"Even if you don't have any other choice, are there really idiots that talk about their plans in front of the enemy?!" he launched his attack, splitting in different directions.

"We did it because it wouldn't matter if we're found out!"

At the plaza in the center of the USJ was winning against the huge mass of villains that were gathered there, the defeated laid on the ground unconscious. Leaping and flying through the air Aizawa caught two more villains with his scarf pulling them together before turning in midair and giving them a swift kick to the stomach. Landing on the top of the two bodies, looking up he saw the scrawny man with the hands running at him quickly - acting fast he threw his bandages at the charging villain, the enemy caught the cloth single-handedly. Aizawa ran forward grabbing the material pulling the skinny man towards him and elbowing him in the stomach. Sadly, the blow didn't connect as it was caught.

"It's hard to see because you keep moving around, but there's an instant where your hair falls. That's when you finished an action, and the space in between has gotten shorter and shorter. Don't push yourself, Eraserhead."

The hand that had caught the hero's elbow started to crumble and began showing the muscles underneath the skin. Surging forward Aizawa gave a quick punch, pushing the villain back and away from him before gaining more distance between themselves. Another villain from behind attack but missed before getting launched back - more and more villains kept coming at him. Continuing to dodge expertly even as one of his arms was out of commission, he was starting to get tired, breathing heavily as he continued to fend off attacks.

Disposing of the final underlings he turned to face the light blue haired man, the villain laughed at the display and the panting hero in front of him.

"You're so cool...You're so cool! By the way hero, I'm not the final boss."

Standing behind the teacher was a huge creature, lifting its' muscular arm it struck Aizawa - half of his goggles broke at the impact and blood traveled through the air. Only the sounds of punches connecting to flesh could be heard.

Back at the top of the staircase, Thirteen was trying to suck up and capture the villain that was blocking the way out.

"Black Hole, a quirk that sucks up everything and turns it into dust. What an astounding power. However Thirteen, you're a hero that works to rescue people from disasters. As expected, your battle experience is less than half of a normal hero."

The villain opened a warp gate behind the teacher, and since Thirteen was using his quirk - that meant that he was getting sucked into his own Black Hole. The force of the suction was breaking apart the hero's costume exposing the back, Thirteen was gravely injured as he deactivated his quirk before he hit the ground. The students watched in horror at what was happening in front of them, Sato who quickly snapped out of it shouted.

"Iida, run! Hurry!"

Conflicted and scared Iida clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut before taking the moment that his teacher had given him - engines on his legs flared into action and Iida ran. He cursed aloud at what he was doing, but he needed to get out, he needed to run and get help. He couldn't let Thirteen's actions be in vain - the warp gate villain opened a portal in the direction the boy was running, Iida couldn't stop in time and tried to skid to a stop. Luckily, Shoji decided to leap into action, he surrounded the misty gate with his large arms and rolled around from Iida yelling at him to hurry. Once again, the blue-haired teen surged forward. Seeing that he was about to make it to the exit, the villain made his way over hoping to stop him. Uraraka, who was tending to Thirteen noticed that there was something metal that wasn't moving and was covered in mist.

Iida kept running to the automatic door wondering what he should do once he reached it.

"You're impudent, four-eyes. Begone!" behind him the villain was right on his tail before overwhelming him with his body. Darkness covered his field of vision, the feeling of failure overcame him at not being able to make it out and get help from the school.

In the collapse zone explosions could be heard as the building crumbled and windows shattered raining glass down to the ground. Inside Bakugo was fighting against villains that surrounded Kirishima and himself. He was ragged, one of his gauntlets had broken and his mask shredded - while Kirishima had a few scratches and bruises from fighting.

"Is this all of them?! They're so weak."

"Alright. Let's hurry up and go help the others! If we're here, then everyone else should be in the USJ too. I'm worried about the guys with less offensive abilities. Besides, because we ran ahead, we slowed Thirteen down. If he had been able to suck up that fog, then this wouldn't have happened!

As men, we have to take responsibility for what we did!" Kirishima was feeling extremely guilty for their actions, reflecting on their mistakes at the time.

"If you want to go, then go by yourself. I'm gonna kill that warp gate."

"What?! You're gonna act childish at a time like this?! Besides, that guy's attacks are-"

"SHUT UP!" Bakugo had enough of Kirishima and what he was saying.

"That bastard is the enemy's way in and out. I'm gonna cut off their getaway route for when the time comes. It's not like we don't have a way to fight the fog."

The spiky haired boy was too busy ranting and raving his plan that he didn't notice there was one final villain that had been lurking. The villain had been able to turn invisible and attacked Bakugo before grabbing Kirishima and using him as a hostage.

"You should have stopped chit-chatting and pay attention to your surroundings boy, you just like your friend get caught by me. Now if you don't want him to get hurt you better back off or else the redhead dies!" the chameleon had a vice grip on Kirishima throat and started to squeeze it tightly, causing the boy to grab the arm of his captor trying to get him off to breathe.

Blazing red eyes looked at the villain with hatred and took a few steps back, he needed to think of a plan and kick this guy's ass.

The door that led the way out of the room they were in was open a bit, quietly a black puddle slithered inside making it's way to where the villain was backtracking and dragging Kirishima with him. He was cocky at having taking control of the situation.

"That's right boy, you don't want your friend to get hurt now do you? Didn't think so."

The black puddle halted and shifted into a figure, a confident smirk came across their lips - happy that the target hadn't noticed them. Leaning into his ear a voice whispered.

"Hey, you shouldn't do that."

In a flash the villain snapped his head around to see a girl smiling, eyes widen in shock but before he could do anything she slapped the sides of his head where his ears were. Causing him to become a bit disoriented and letting go of Kirishima, acting quickly before he had a chance to make a grab again for the hostage she grabbed the sides of his head bringing to back and slamming her knee into his face which made him stagger backward. Dashing up to the semi-conscious chameleon man, she punched his throat hard which made him unable to scream out in pain - with a victorious smirk on her face she swept her leg underneath his feet which made him fall to the ground hard with a thud.

"Next time, you should listen to your own advice. Then you might have been able to let me play more." groaning was the only thing that came out of the man's mouth, seeing that there was no more reason to keep him around - she gave a rough kick to the face effectively knocked the man out.

The two boys kind of stood there in shock at what happened, it was all so fast - Kirishima snapped out of the shock to run up and thank his hero.

"Thanks, Toshihara! That was pretty manly of you, I didn't think you would be able to be so ruthless." giving his signature wide grin and gave a thumbs up.

Izumi turned around, her hair now loose as her ponytail was unable to stay in place with all the fighting she had been doing. Her hero costume was torn in places and she was sporting a few cuts and bruises - she smiled at the spiky red head and waved to him.

"Well, I normally don't go that hard - but I decided that since they came to us looking for a fight, why not have some fun and play with them." a small chuckle came out of her mouth, happy that he was okay.

Finally stepping into the conversation, Bakugo walked up to the two - his face annoyed at being shown up by a girl.

"So, you got sent here too, huh Shadow Witch? What the hell took you so long to make it here to us, had a tough time kicking ass?!"

"Oh...you're here. Well, I'm sure you know that you guys weren't the only one that had to fight villains you know. I didn't have another person with me so I had to fight my group on my own."

"Tch, couldn't handle a few villains by yourself girly! No wonder you look like you went to hell and back again."

Seeing that the two were about to have a shouting match again like they had on the Kirishima went between his two classmates preventing them from going at it with each other. They needed to get out of here and reach the rest of the class.

"C-Come on guys, we don't have time to fight right now! We gotta make it back to everyone, to make sure they're safe you know."

Hearing those words Izumi stopped herself from getting in too deep into a fight with Bakugo and nodded to the shark-toothed boy. She agreed with him one hundred percent, she was very worried about her friends - hoping that they were okay and safe.

"You're right Kirishima, we need to move and make sure everyone is safe." the two students moved to the door making their way out of the room and out the building.

"HEY! Don't you ignore me! This isn't over yet Shadow Witch, not by a long shot!" Bakugo charging after them, not wanting to lose the fight that was about to happen. Having caught up with the two he let out an annoyed sound before shoving his hands into his pockets, the three talked about where they thought everyone that got separated would meet up - and came to a conclusion. With a nod of their heads, they made their way to the center of the USJ...The Plaza.

Just as the mist was about warp Iida away from the path of the door, the villain stopped feeling something was wrong.

Uraraka who had placed her hands on the metal bracer that was floating in place, she activated her quirk.

"I don't know the theory behind it, but if it's wearing something like this then it must mean he has a physical body!" she tossed the metal of metal in the air and screamed for Iida to go! To RUN and make it out, to get help!

"My body! Oh no!" having his physical body displaced from the spot it was rooting from, he couldn't reach Iida in time before he reached the door.

The door was heavy and needed to be pulled apart, the teen desperately grasped and began to pull - praying that it would open. At first, it didn't give way, then a small peek of sunlight made it through the crack as if it was the light of hope trying to spill through. The villain saw that he was almost out and rushed forward ready to stop him.

"I won't let you!" tape spring from Sero arms, sticking to the metal and Sato quickly grabbed the piece of tape and pulled spinning the enemy around and around while Iida continued to pull the door apart.

"GO!" throwing the villain away from them, the students looked back to see that their class rep had made it out and just ran as fast as he could. Leaving a huge trail of dust in his wake, on his way to get help.

The beast was now crushing Aizawa's arms, twisting it in a position that was completely unnatural. Blood pouring out of the wound and the sound of bone breaking rang out and a scream of pain from the downed teacher was awful. Standing a few feet in front of the scene, bored red eyes watched as his creature kept the teacher pinned down.

"You can erase quirks. That's wonderful, but it's nothing impressive. In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be quirkless."

Struggling to turn his head, Aizawa looked at the man in front of him and activated his quirk for a second before the monster stomped down on his other arm - effectively crushing it. Blood running down the front of his face, he couldn't really do anything as a huge hand took him by the back of his head lifting it before bringing it back down to the ground. Leaving a small crater from the force of the impact.

Hiding away in a pool of water that connected to the plaza stood Asui, Mineta, and Midoriya watching the whole thing. They couldn't move, their eyes glued to the scene in front of them - Mineta was covering his mouth and shaking in fear seeing what was happening to their homeroom teacher.

"Midoriya, I can't take it anymore. I'm sure you're having second thoughts, right?" tears pooling in the small boy's eyes.

The boy couldn't say anything at all, as if he was frozen in time - green eyes as wide as they could be and jaw clenched.

Next, to the skinny man, the warp gate villain appeared out of thin air.

"Tomura Shigaraki."

"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?"

"I put him out of commission, but there were students I was unable to disperse, and one of them was able to get away."

"Huh?" hearing that made the man, Shigaraki, he started to scratch at his neck a bit - then more and more until he brought up his other hand to go the same on the other side. The scratching became frenzied and he started to shake.

"Kurogiri, you...If you weren't a warp gate, I would have crushed you to pieces."

He suddenly stopped his movements, his neck was slightly red from irritated it. "We can't win against dozens of pros. It's game over. Man, it's game over this time. Let's go home."

Mineta perked up a bit after hearing them said that.

"They're going home? Did he say they were going home?"

"That's what I heard."

Tears of joy flowed from his eyes as he hugged Asui in relief, his hand on her chest.

"Alright! We're saved!"

"Yes, but.." Asui quickly and quietly shoved Mineta underwater for having touched her breast before turning to Midoriya.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, for them to simply retreat after doing all this…" his mind was raced with all kinds of thoughts.

"Oh yeah. Before we leave, let's smash some of his pride…"

Shigaraki turned to look over at the three students that were hiding, a gush of air reached them and in a second he was upon them. Arm ready to grab one of them and red eyes crazed at the idea of hurting them.

"As the symbol of peace!"

Reaching his arm out at Asui, she completely unaware since everything was happening too quickly. Midoriya's eyes traveled at the same time as the villain's arm as it was about to reach its destination, terror is written all over his face. He thought back to what happened to Aizawa's elbow when it came into contact with his hand, it crumbled away. In his mind, he could see his classmate vaporized into dust and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. Shigaraki's hand was just about to touch her face, the frog girl's eyes widened in surprise and it stopped.

"Damn it. You really are cool…"

Turning to look back, he saw Aizawa forcing his head up from the weight of it being pushed down - hair up as a sign his quirk was activated. Bloodshot red eyes looked at the scrawny man that was about to harm his student, blood pouring from his head, nose and mouth.

"...Eraserhead." his head getting slammed back into the ground.

Midoriya taking this brief moment, he jumped up from the water his arm drawn back ready to punch the man in front of them, his mind panicking racing as his body just reacted on its' own. He knew that this guy was completely different from all the other villain that his small group fought against before they made their way to the plaza.

"Let go of her! Smash…!"

The force of the punch was sent a huge shockwave through the air, throwing back minor villains that were in the area - making large waves in the water and the lights shatter. A big dust cloud covered the boy, his heart pumping with adrenaline. Midoriya noticed that his arm wasn't broken this time - he was happy that finally, he was able to control his quirk for a second. Looking up to see that the huge bird-like beast took the blow from his punch, it didn't even damage it at all. Pulling his trembling arm back and he suddenly realized it.

"You move well. Your 'smash' are you a follower of All Might's? Oh well, I'm done with you."

The beast grabbed Midoriya's arm and his other arm lifted, but before anything else could happen Asui let go of Mineta and shot her tongue out hoping to pull the hand away in time. All the while Shigaraki continued to reach his hand over to the girl, everything was happening at the same time - the tension of the whole situation was crazy.

Everyone at that moment had their breath held, sudden a loud crash was heard. Doors flew off its hinges and everyone that heard it turned their head at the sound, a cloud of dust could be seen at the staircase. Strong footsteps echoed, the students that were at the top of the stair started to smile and tremble with relief at seeing how it was that came to help.

"It's fine now! I am here!"

"All Might!"

All...Might…."

He stood proudly atop the stairs, his figure was strong and confident. As if he was an unshakable force of nature - he had his suit jacket in his arm before he tossed it to the side. His face had strong dark shadows showing how angry he was at what was going on.

"Oh, we're getting a continue…"


	7. Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!

_Hello everyone,_

 _I'm sorry that I didn't update on time like I usually do, but I once again had to combine Episode 12 and 13 together so it needed some time. Also, I was very close to finishing it and then a freak accident happened which caused me to regress all of my progress I had made, 16 pages went back down to 9 pages. I was very upset and needed an extra day or two to recover from the shock and anger I was feeling towards myself and what happened._

 _This chapter will be marking off the end of the first season, the next chapter will be a character bio about Izumi Toshihara. Explaining her quirk, abilities and power level - hopefully, my friend will be able to finish up the drawings that I commissioned in a week or two. So you'll (hopefully) be able to see what she looks like._

 _Once again I would like to thank everyone for their patience about this chapter and for reading this story._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 7**

Tears of relief flowed from the eyes of Uraraka and Ashido as they were next to their fallen teacher, seeing who came to help them. Sato, Sero, and Shoji were all smiles as they watched the Number One Hero - All Might come walking into the building, ready to aid them in their time of need.

Unknown to them, All Might was reflecting on what had happened while he was away, he thought about getting the students must have been so terrified. He remembered the look on Iida's face as he passed the young boy, the panic, and desperation that was etched there was painful for him to see. Hearing the boy give the gist of the situation, his voice was shaking and blue eyes widen with fear. Thinking about how his fellow teachers, who had fought to protect the class and the injuries they had sustained made his heart tighten with anger. This school was supposed to be safe, a shining example of heroism where everyone could be protected no matter what. Knowing the fear they all must of went through, he needed to reassure them that everything would be fine.

"It's fine now!" his voice boomed across the building as he ripped off his blue tie from around his neck, his contorted in anger.

"I am HERE!"

He signature smile wasn't on his face, no sign of it appearing anytime soon either. Standing up from his crouching position Shigaraki looked up at the arriving hero, he had been waiting for this moment.

"That's All Might? It's my first time seeing him in person!"

"He looks so intimidating…"

"Idiots, don't hesitate! If we kill him, we'll-" the minor villain didn't even have time to finish his sentence before blow knocked him out on the left side of his head. Flashes of light were the only sign that something was moving around and hitting the villains - rendering them out of the fight.

All Might had effectively launched the villains surrounding the downed Aizawa, lifting him up in his muscular arms, the symbol of peace looked down at his friend. Seeing blood and cuts on his face and arms.

"Sorry, Aizawa."

The hero turned, his sky blue eyes shining before rapidly grabbing Mineta, Midoriya, and Asui away from the three villains that gathered around them - all the while hitting the lanky villain in the stomach. The three students barely even registered what happened, at one point they were in the water and the next they were standing opposite from the monster and skinny man.

"Everyone, go to the entrance. I'm leaving Aizawa to you, he's unconscious. Hurry!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Across from them, Shigaraki was mumbling to himself as his hands were now covering his face. He was wandering around a bit looking for something.

"It's no good...It's no good...It's no good. I-I'm sorry Father.." he found what he was looking for, a dismembered hand that had fallen off his face when All Might had hit him. Placing it back on his face he calmed down quickly, sighing.

"He hit me while he was saving them, it's violence of a government official. He's fast as expected, I can't follow him with my eyes. But not as fast as I thought he'd be. I guess it's true after all...that he's getting weaker."

Heaving their teacher onto his shoulder Midoriya looked at All Might.

"All Might, you can't. That brain villain took One Fo-He took a punch that didn't break my arm, but he didn't even twitch. He's gotta be-"

"Young Midoriya! It's fine!" silencing the boy with a wave of his arm and cheesy pose. But the green haired teen didn't look so sure, he turned with his small group bringing their wounded teacher to the entrance.

Turning to face the villains, All Might launched himself at them with his arms crossed over his face getting ready to use his Carolina Smash at the darkly dressed young man. Before his attack could hit its' target the creature stood in front of his master. All Might's smash forced the water behind them to lift through the air and shockwaves to radiate out. The blow didn't do anything to the beast, its' hollow eyes looked up at the blonde hero - its' gaze was disturbing, to say the least - before it made a grab for his opponent. Leaning away from the attempted grab, All Might punched it right in its' stomach. Still not doing anything to the creature he landed punches to the face before leaping away, even hits to the face was like spitting at it.

Quickly the bird beast was upon him, once again All Might threw powerful punches that when each one struck caused bursts of air. Looking on as his creation continued to fight - Shigaraki was enjoying himself.

"It doesn't work because of shock absorption. In order to cause damage to Nomu, it would be best to slowly gouge out his flesh. Whether he'd let you do it or not is a whole different issue, though."

"Thanks for telling me that." All Might dodged another grab made by the Nomu and wrapped his arms around its' waist lifting it over his head and slamming it head-first into the ground.

"If that's true, then it's easier for me."

The student that were on the stairs were able to see the huge cloud of dust and debris from All Might's attack, the boys cheering thinking that the hero was able to finally defeat the beast. While the three that were carrying Aizawa way looked back and wondered how he was able to make a huge explosion from the suplex, Midoriya was the only one with a look of concern on his face. Thinking about All Might's condition, about how he could only work as a hero three hours a day. He was fighting to protect everyone so hard while he was pushing himself to the limit.

As the dust cloud cleared, All Might's face was clenched as blood pooled and dripped out of his mouth. Underneath him was a swirling portal and coming out from the other side was the top of Nomu - with its' fingers embed into the hero's sides.

"I-Is that how it is?"

Three pairs of eyes just widened in shock seeing what happened, the monster's fingers pushed deeper and deeper into the flesh causing more blood to stain All Might's white dress shirt.

"Were you trying to keep him from moving by sticking him deep in the concrete? You won't be able to stop him like that, because Nomu is as strong as you are." Shigaraki giggled.

"This is good Kurogiri, it's an unexpected opportunity."

The portal shrank and Nomu removed All Might from its' waist before lifting him above its' head, the grip in his waist never weakening. The symbol of peace grabbed at the hands trying to remove the fingers that were causing more and more damage on his insides, he was surprised at how powerful Nomu was.

"This is your first offense? You'd better prepare yourselves…"

The lanky young man called out his partner's name giving the okay.

"I don't want blood and guts overflowing within me, but I would be happy to take in someone as great as you. You're too fast to see with the human eye, so restaining you is Nomu's job. And then, when your body is halfway in, to close the gate and tear you apart is **my** job."

Further away from the action, the young boy knew what he had to do.

"Asui-san, trade places with me in carrying Mr. Aizawa."

"Okay, but why?" the frog girl came closer to lift their teacher off from Izuku's shoulders.

Without a second thought, he ran forward desperately towards his hero with tears in his green eyes. He cried out his name as he ran, drawing his attention - All Might was surprised to see Midoriya running at them. With a leap, the boy reached out his hand, but Kurogiri rose to block him from getting to the captured hero in their grasp. Opening up a portal, ready to cut the boy in half. Before that could happen, an explosion prevented anything of the sort to happen.

Bakugo jumped into the fray. "Move! You're in the way Deku!"

Grabbing the warp gate by his metal bracer, the raging blonde pushed him down to the ground forcefully. Following up the action, a trail of ice traveled up to where All Might was being held - moving up half of the creature's body and stopping just before reaching the hero.

"All I heard was that you were trying to kill All Might." Todoroki's voice was cold and threatening.

Seeing that this was his moment, the hero grabbed the Nomu's hands he flipped out of its' grip before landing next to the two-toned boy - holding his side to stop the flow of blood. Jumping into the action was Kirishima who was aiming for Shigaraki, who dodged the attack by moving away from the redheaded teen.

"Damn it! I didn't get to show off!"

Not giving the skinny villain any time to rest, shadowy tendrils shot out from the ground hoping to catch their target. Raising from the black mass Izumi looked over to Kirishima with a smile.

"I thought you were pretty cool, though try not to scream as you attack. You just warned him you were coming."

"Stop acting stuck up, foggy nobody!"

"The Symbol of Peace won't be killed by the likes of you clowns."

"Kacchan, Toshihara-san, everyone!" wiping his tears away from his eyes. Midoriya and the other students stared down the only villain left standing before them.

"Todoroki...Bakugo…"

"Kirishima-chan and Toshihara-chan."

Asui and Mineta were somewhat relieved to see their classmates banding together to protect each other. They still had to keep moving and get Aizawa to get his wounds treated.

"Let's leave this to them, hurry!"

They finally reached the rest of their classmates at the top of the stairs where Uraraka was the first to noticed them and waved to catch their attention.

"Mr. Aizawa?!"

"Let's go!" Sato and the others ran to help Mineta and Asui, Mina stayed with Thirteen who was slowly coming around.

"L-Leave this to All Might...When the other teachers get here, go to a safe place…"

"O-Okay!"

The standoff at the plaza was still happening with half of Nomu's body frozen and Kurogiri being held down by Bakugo. Looking at the scene in front of him thinking about what should be done as his next move.

"Kurogiri, our exit, and entrance has been captured. We're in a pinch."

The ashen blonde boy over the warp gate with an overconfident manic grin on his face, his red eyes peering down at his hostage begging him to do something at all.

"You careless bastard, you're just as I thought you would be. Only certain parts of you can turn into a misty warp gate, the fog gate covered your actual body, right? Back then...If you were completely made of mist and physical attacks couldn't touch you, then you wouldn't have said 'that was close'." as he spoke the grin on his face grew wider and wider with which passing moment as he continued you explain his reasoning.

' _Well, he's not as dumb as I thought he was. Though the look on his face makes him seem like he loves crushing people under his foot. Hope I never have to be underneath it, I bet he would never let me hear the end of it.'_

Izumi continued to look over at Bakugo and his captive, seeing that the foggy being was moving - the boy let a bit of his quirk out to force him into submission. Small sparks of explosions and smoke sizzled from his hand as he continued to press down on the metal bracer.

"Don't move! If I feel you're moving suspiciously then I'll blow you up to high hell!"

"His behavior isn't very hero-like…" Kirishima standing next to the boy as he remaining in a battle position.

"Agreed, he looks like he's really enjoying this. Which kinda makes me worried about what the other guy will do it get his warp gate back." Izumi moving closer to Bakugo, in hopes of being able to prevent the other villains from getting to him easily.

Shigaraki, standing with his hands intertwined together was thinking. The students were able to capture two of his trusted followers and were able to remain unharmed from the other villains after separating them. He then turned his lanky body to face his bird-creature giving him commands to act.

"Nomu." with just that single word, the monster knew what to do next. Pulling his other half of its' body through the portal, even with the ice constricting its' movements. Finally pulling the rest out of the warp caused its' leg and arm, that was encased in ice, to break off. Leaving only the remaining arm and leg to move around with - but that didn't stop it at all. Dead beady eyes looked at the group of students that were in front of it, making some of them tense with just having the thing's attention directed at them.

"Even though his body is broken, he's still moving?"

"Get back everyone!"

The ice shattered and tendons of muscle pulsed to life, growing outward in the shape of an arm and leg.

"What?! His quirk isn't shock absorption?" All Might rose to stand.

"I didn't say that was **all** he had, this is super-regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on at 100%, he's a super-efficient human sandbag."

Just hearing those words made everyone on edge, they readied themselves - keeping their guard up just in case something were to happen.

"First, we need to get our warp gate back. Go Nomu." they didn't have seen the beast move as they all turned to look at Bakugo since he was still holding down Kurogiri. He was too fast for the naked eye to see, the Nomu punched the spot where the blonde boy was - a huge dust cloud was left in its' wake. The force of that singular punch launch the kids back and rustled that trees violently in the surrounding area. From that dust cloud was another being pushed back and it hit the wall on the further side of the plaza.

All five of them were trying to get to their feet, Midoriya was still on the ground. He looked at the dust cloud cleared and saw only Nomu and Kurogiri there.

"K-Kacchan!"

In a daze, Bakugo was sitting on the ground right next to the green-haired boy who was crying out his name.

"Kacchan?! You dodged, that's amazing!"

"No, shut up scum!" the dusty blonde didn't see anything that caused him to be moved.

"Then how…?"

Izumi snapped her head over to the wall. "Then that was…"

Arms placed in a guarded cross, huffing as the dust cleared from around him stood All Might. Dress shirt sleeves were torn halfway as he coughed slightly, he protected Bakugo and pushed him out of the way - taking the punch that was meant for the boy.

"Don't you know how to hold back?"

"It was to rescue my companions, I had no choice. I mean earlier, that.." pointing over to Midoriya.

"Plain-looking one. He was about to punch me with everything he had you know. Violence for the sake of others make it admirable, isn't that right hero? You know what All Might? I'm angry, I'm angry at this world that categorizes the same violent acts as heroics or villainous. Deciding what's good and what's bad, 'Symbol of Peace'? Ha. You're just a device to repress violence, violence only breeds other violence - the world will know this once we kill you!"

"That's preposterous, the eyes of white-collar criminals like you burn silently. You just want to enjoy this yourself, don't you?"

Standing together ready for whatever would happen next, Todoroki was the first the speak up.

"It's three against five."

Nodding in confirmation was Izuku, "Kacchan already exposed the fog's weakness!"

"These guys are crazy, but if we back up All Might then we can push them back!" Kirishima ready was ready to rumble.

"This will be tough though, we need to keep on our toes if we want to make it out of here without being seriously hurt." Izumi was getting her shadows prepared for a fight.

"No!" walking forward with his ever-present smile on his face motioning to teens to stay back.

"Run away."

"You would've been in trouble if I hadn't done anything earlier, right?" Todoroki wasn't going to sit back and let All Might continue to fight in his wounded state.

"That was a different story Young Todoroki, thanks. But it's fine, just watch a pro give it everything's he's got."

"All Might, you're bleeding...Besides time's-" Izuku stopped himself before revealing too much.

Showing a thumbs up towards the worrying boy, turned and stood confidently against the trio of villains in front of them.

"Nomu, Kurogiri. Get him, I'll deal with the children."

He knew that he didn't have much time, barely a minute left in fact. His power draining faster than normal - but he had to do this. He had to fight, to protect the students, his juniors, the school, Everyone! He was the Symbol of Peace, people turned to him for hope and strength.

Suddenly the air changed, everyone in the area stopped whatever they were about to do and looked at the blonde hero. With a step, he launched himself forwards at the Nomu, while the creature rushed to meet him - both winding their arm back and delivering a powerful punch. Fists meeting at the center and the force of them clashing caused everyone in the surrounding area to be thrown back by a huge shockwave.

"Damn, hey you talked about his shock absorption yourself earlier didn't you?" Shigaraki flipped in the air before landing on his feet.

"Yes, I did!" All Might confirmed as he delivered another punch and another before a flurry of punches was all that could be seen. Moving so fast that to the naked eye there was just blurs moving in between.

"A head-on fist-fight?" the small group of students were been blown back and had to hang on to whatever they could on the ground, the sheer force of those attacks was amazing.

"I-I can't get near them."

Planting his back foot into the ground to hold his position, All Might continued unleashing the barrage of punches. "If your quirk isn't shock **nullification** but shock absorption, then there's a limit to it right?"

The Nomu landed a fierce punch to his side, right where the monster had wounded him before - the blow was painful but All Might pushed through.

"Made to fight me? If you can withstand me at one hundred percent, then I'll force you to surrender from beyond that!"

Step by step he started to push back the bird-beast, it was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed by all the punches he was getting hit with. Even as he was injured, All Might was still giving it his all - ignoring the pain he was in and continued to battle, pushing past his limits. His fists weren't being swung randomly either, every single attack was well planned. Blonde hair messed up and dress shirt in tatters he threw another mighty punch at the Nomu, causing the creature to be pushed back a few meters. The ground getting ripped up from underneath its' feet as it tried to stop its momentum.

Taking a giant leap towards his opponent, All Might flew through the treeline as the bird monster finally managed to stop before running on all fours and launching its' body into the air. Huge boulders were up in the air with them as the fight carried on, Nomu punching the hero down onto the ground - luckily he was able to block the blow and counterattack with a strong kick once again throwing the monster into the air. He jump-kicked the villain into the groundbreaking apart the earth that surrounded them. The beast jumped into the air trying to gain some distance but All Might was right on its' tail, grabbing it by the arm and swinging him around to smash it into the ground creating a huge crater in its' wake.

Landing before his foe as it was immobilized for a moment.

"Hey villain, have you ever heard these words before? Go Beyond! Plus...Ultra…!"

That punch, that final punch was powerful enough for the heat to be generated by the impact, for a split second, an explosion could be seen before the Nomu was catapulted into the air - hitting the roof of the USJ, shattering the light and breaking through to the clear sapphire sky. The huge explosion that it caused made the entire building shake at the force of it making everyone stop and wonder what was going on.

"That was a villain up there just now, wasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"T-This power is..."

"It's All Might! There's no one else who can do something so amazing!" Mineta's eyes watered with tears and he sang the hero's praises.

As sunlight shone through the hole that was made by the Nomu, everyone that was in the plaza stood in shock at what happened.

"Is this a comic book or something? It's like he nullified the shock absorption, his brute strength is crazy."

"What insane power…Does this mean he rushed at him so fast that he couldn't regenerate?"

' _So this is the world of pro heroes...this is the very top...incredible.'_

Izumi continued to stare at their teacher in amazement, she couldn't believe what happened in front of her eyes. She finally understood why All Might is the Number One hero in the rankings, why he was so well received. It was as if he was a beacon of light shining in the darkest tunnel, to guide the scared and hopeless to a better place. When he arrived she felt as if a warm blanket was being wrapped around her frightened body and offered comfort in this time of distress.

Midoriya looked over to where a cloud of dust still covered the area where All Might stood. His freckled face covered with worry.

"I really have gotten weaker, in my prime five hits would've been enough. But it took more than three hundred hits."

Standing there was the Number One hero, hair in a mess and clothing ripped to shreds - he still stood strong like an unshakable pillar. Tears of relief started to pool in the young boy's green eyes as he stared at his hero.

"Now villains…" All Might turned to face the remaining two. Shigaraki was shaking in fury at what happened to his creation.

"I'm sure we'd all to end this as soon as possible."

Hearing those words from his enemy, Shigaraki couldn't believe what was happening - he was supposed to be weaker. The mission was supposed to be easy, killing All Might and having that symbol of peace be ripped out of society.

"Weaker, no way. We were completely overwhelmed, I can't believe he did that to my Nomu...Did he use a cheat?!"

He began to scratch at his neck, most likely a sign of stress.

"What's going on, he's not any weaker at all. Did that guy lie to me?!" as he continued to think the more he's tick became more active.

"What's wrong, you're not coming? You said you'd 'clear' this or something, right? Come and get me if you can." All Might blue eyes glared that the villains across of him, causing the lanky young man to take a step back as his body quaked.

The five teens that witnessed the fight were now looking at their teacher with pride and astonishment.

"As expected, it looks like there's no need for us to fight."

"Midoriya, we should get out of here now! It'll be worse if we end up getting taken hostage instead!" Kirishima called to the boy, seeing that her friend wasn't going to move Izumi went to him trying to get him to move.

"He's right, come on Midoriya. All Might has very under control here - we can leave him to handle the rest."

But the green haired teen wouldn't move for the life of him, he continued to stare at his mentor. He could tell, All Might was bluffing - he could see that he was getting ready to change back into his weaker form. The cloud of dust surrounding the bulky man hid the signs well enough if nobody else knew what to look for, but Izuku did.

That was the reality of the situation, the Number One hero couldn't move anymore, even taking a step would reveal that he was bluffing. The Nomu creature he fought against was extremely strong and he didn't have enough strength in him to battle again. All Might knew that he needed to buy more time, just a bit more time until reinforcements arrive to help them out. He needs to them to believe that he was still in peak condition, the villains needed to hesitate and doubt.

"Well, what's wrong?"

With a groan Shigaraki's scratching became intensive. "If only I had Nomu…That guy would be able to go up against him without thinking about anything at all!"

"Tomura Shigaraki, please calm yourself. Looking carefully, I can see that he's definitely weakened by Nomu's attacks. Besides, the children seem to frozen in fear and we still have underlings who can be used. There are likely a few more minutes before their allies come and help them, if you and I work together we can have a chance at killing him."

The scratching stopped after hearing Kurogiri point out the facts like that and immediately calmed down.

"Yeah...yeah, yeah. That's right...that's right, we have no choice but to do it. I mean we have the last boss in front of our eyes."

Some of the minor villains started to get up and move towards the group of students.

"All Might will do something about the main bad guys, let's go help out the others!" Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki stood in front, while Izumi was still trying to get Midoriya's attention.

"Hey...snap out of it, Midoriya! We have company here."

Her words went unheard as the boy continued to just stand there, he was the only one that knows. That knows that All Might is at his limit and he couldn't fight anymore, his mind was racing with a plan to help his teacher. The wrap gate villain was probably the most problematic to deal with, his fist clenched as he thought about the situation.

Shigaraki started to run at All Might. "This is revenge for Nomu!"

All Might still continue to stand strong, but on the inside, he was panicking. In his mind, he begged for this fellow staff members to hurry and reach them. He couldn't do anymore.

Only a small trail of dust was left as Midoriya sprang away from the rest of his classmates and rushed at the duo of villains that were charging at his hero. His legs were broken from using One for All to leap towards All Might. His fist was pulled down ready to throw a punch, his target was the metal bracer that showed the physical body of Kurogiri.

"Get away from All Might!" his voice was guttural and determined.

In an instance, Shigaraki put his hand through his partner as he came out on the other side where the freckled boy was about to attack. That hand, the very same hand that caused Aizawa's elbow to crumble away as if it was nothing. It came closer and just about to reach his face, the panic, and dread that was written on Midoriya's face was the only sign that he realized he was done. Just before the hand was about to come into contact with him it was blown back and the boy fell to the down without becoming a pile of ash.

Everyone in the area turned to see what caused it, the sound of two more bangs could be heard throughout the main area.

"Sorry everyone, sorry we're late! I gathered all who were immediately available."

Relief filled the students on the staircase once again as they saw who had just come to help.

"I, Tenya Iida, class 1-A representative have now returned!"

Behind him were the U.A teachers - Blood King, Cementoss, the principal, Snipe, Ectoplasm, Midnight, Present Mic and many others. The minor villains that were just at the end of the staircase began to attack, with a sound of annoyance Present Mic walked forward before taking a deep breath and unleashing a mighty 'YEAH!' with his quirk. The shriek caused everyone that was caught up in the attack to cover their ears in pain hoping to block out the sound, but it wasn't enough as some passed out. Taking this moment Ectoplasm opened his mouth wide releasing shimmering white smoke at the enemy. The smoke turned into clones of himself and attacked the remaining villains that were still standing.

"Split up and protect the students!"

"Yes, sir!"

The sounds of explosions shook the ground at the plaza and they knew that reinforcements had come.

"Aw man, they're here. It's game over now, shall we go home and try again later Kurogir-" Shigaraki was then it in the shoulder and both his legs, he fell to the ground as shots continued to rain down upon him. Seeing that his leader had been injured, Kurogiri wrapped his misty form around him blocking all the bullets.

Snipe continued to fire his weapon, "Someone whose quirk can capture them all from here…"

"Me!"

As Kurogiri worried over Shigaraki his fog slowly started to cover his form hoping to carry themselves off to safety, but they didn't get the chance for suddenly Kurogiri was being pulled towards the stairs. Thirteen was using his quirk at full power as he leaned against Sato and Ser who were keeping him steady. The two villains were slowly being dragged towards the heroes, and Shigaraki was partly through the warp gate as he stared All Might with frenzied red eyes. He swore to himself that next time they would meet, he would kill the symbol of peace. With that thought running through his mind they disappeared back to where they came from.

The battle was over, finally. Midoriya was still on the ground - his legs and one hand broken he struggled to get up, but that wasn't the only thing he was struggling with. He felt horrible about not being able to do anything, but that wasn't true - not at all. Izuku was able to buy his mentor precious seconds before the villains could fully reach him.

"My goodness, I can't believe we let them escape after they made a big show of trespassing." Midnight commented towards her fellow staff members.

Being lifted from Blood King's shoulder and placed on the ground the principal spoke with his mouse bear paws behind his back.

"They caught us completely unguarded, huh? More importantly, we must make sure that the students are safe." the teachers nodded in agreement.

Back at the plaza, Todoroki, Izumi, and Bakugo looked at the stairs.

"If there are this many pro heroes gathered, then it looks like they didn't attack the whole school."

"Lucky for us, I'm sure if that was the case then we would be in major trouble." Izumi sighed, just thinking about that possibility made her anxious and panicky.

"Midoriya! Are you alright?!" Kirishima was running to his wounded classmate.

"K-Kirishima, wai-!" suddenly a wall of earth rose up from the ground to block of Kirishima's path to his classmate and teacher.

"We want to make sure that all the students are safe, so please gather together at the front gate. We will deal with the injured here." it was Cementoss and his quirk that made the earth wall.

Hearing the logic in that Kirishima smiled and ran shouting at the remaining group that they were to gather at the front gate.

"Oh okay, but what about Mr. All Might and Midoriya?" Izumi was concerned about her friend as she caught him lying on the ground not being able to move.

"Cementoss and the rest of the teachers are going to take care of them, so don't worry about it." shooting a thumbs up and a shark-toothed smile at the girl.

Nodding at the answer they started to make their way to the front gate, but all she could think about was the fight between All Might and that Nomu thing. It was incredible, to say the least, and inspiring at the most. The wave of relief she felt when she saw he was there standing strong and unshakable.

That was something she wanted to achieve as a hero, to offer that feeling of safety and hope to people who were in need of it. She wanted to be that warm comforting blanket that protected people when they were in despair, but she knew she could never be like All Might and she didn't want to be. But she would give people her own brand of warmth and protection - and seeing All Might push himself past the limit was what triggered this thought process in her mind.

So deep she was in her thoughts that she didn't notice that they had reached the stairs and she tripped on one of the steps climbing up. Luckily she was able to catch herself, but she heard a cocky snort from behind her, turning her head around to see who made the noise - she wasn't surprised when she saw a smirk on Bakugo's face.

"Pay attention dumbass, you don't wanna fall flat on your idiot face." his red eyes sparkled with amusement.

Her dark blue eyes narrowed in annoyance hearing that comment. "Whatever loser, I'm too tired to deal with your smartass."

"Bet ya can't even think of anything to say that's why."

"Oh my god, can you just stop being an annoying prick for like two minutes?"

"Huh?! Who are you calling an annoying prick you dumb bitch!?"

Throwing her head back in exhaustion and irritation she spoke, "Just shut up. I don't want to deal with you now, I'm not in the mood. I'm tired and this day has been stressful enough without hearing your voice Idiot."

"Come on guys, no need to fight! We just made it through a villain invasion, we should be more together on this."

"Fine Kirishima, I get your point. But if this blonde asshole keeps bothering me - I might just shove my foot in his mouth." and with that last comment, she ignored Bakugo despite his raging right behind her.

Finally reaching the top of the stairs they saw the rest of their classmates waiting for them before she could even greet them - Izumi was hit with something or more like someone. Uraraka saw her and at that moment took that chance to run and hug her, clinging to her body as tears of relief flowed from her big brown eyes.

"Toshihara-chan, I'm so glad you're okay. When I saw you were taken away, I-I didn't know what to do. I-I'm just so glad you're okay!" tears started to soak through Izumi's tattered hero costume.

Seeing her bubbly friend reduced to a crying mess, Izumi placed her arms around Uraraka and gave her a comforting hug in return. Her hand rubbing circles on the girl's back as her tears shook her body.

"I'm glad you're safe too Uraraka, I was worried about you and Iida too. Don't worry, I'm tough so those villains didn't know what hit them. So please don't cry okay? I'm safe, we're all safe." she made sure her voice was soft and soothing, hoping that would calm the girl down a bit.

Sniffling as she pulled away from her friend, Uraraka wiped her eyes and looked up with a tired smile before nodding. Then she looked around hoping to see Midoriya but she couldn't find him.

"Do you know where Deku-kun is? Is he alright, did something happen to him?! Is he hurt?!" she was shooting questions a mile a minute.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's got some injuries but Cementoss is there with him and so is Mr. All Might as well - I'm sure they're taking very good care of him. Don't worry, we'll be able to see him soon."

They made their way outside and were counted by a detective who was looking over the list of students that were in the class. Some of the other students started to talk to each other about where they were in the USJ and about the villains they fought against.

"Let's have the students return to their classroom for now. We won't be questioning them right away, anyways, right?"

Asui hopped forward towards the detective, "What about Mr. Aizawa?"

"Comminuted fractures in both arms and a facial fracture, fortunately there doesn't seem to be any serious brain damage. However, his orbital floor has been broken into small pieces and his eyes may suffer from its aftereffects. That's what he said."

Looks of concern were all on the students' faces as they heard the summary of the condition of their homeroom teacher.

"What about Thirteen?" Ashido stepped forward.

"Thirteen has been treated, the laceration from his back to his upper arm was bad, but Thirteen will survive." looks of relief bloomed on some of the students' faces, the detective continued.

"All Might will also survive, Recovery Girl's healing is enough to treat him so he's in the nurse's office."

Then it was Uraraka's turn to speak up and Iida jumped in as well while Izumi leaned in closer to hear that the man had to say. "Deku-kun..!"

"What about Midoriya?!"

"Midori- Oh, treatment in the nurse's office is enough for him too." the detective lifted his hat with a smile.

"Oh good…"

"Now, go back to your classroom."

"Yes, sir."

Most of the class was boarding the bus, but Bakugo still stood at the front of the gate to the USJ. Thinking back to what happened as Midoriya jumped into the help All Might, and he grit his teeth.

"Bakugo! He said to go back to the classroom!" the red headed boy shouted to get his attention.

"I know bastard!" with that he made his way to the bus and sat down on a seat.

Izumi in the meantime was sitting next to Uraraka, the brunette didn't want to leave her side for a second. She understood - her sweet friend was just making sure that she was okay and wanted to stay close by. The rest of the class were chattering away but it was much quieter than when they were coming to USJ, the air was heavy was tension.

But the day was finally over and they managed to survive, this was a huge lesson for them all - that what happened today was something they would have to face day in and day out when we were pro-heroes. It was something at Izumi wanted to do know more than ever though. Becoming a pro-hero was her goal.

Back at the USJ, the investigation was still going on - officers are moving around the area trying to secure and make sure that there were no more villains were hidden. An officer was combing the forest near the plaza where All Might fought against Nomu and the other League of Villain members when he spotted someone moving through the trees.

"Hey, stop! Don't move!" the young policeman ran after the moving figure, hoping to catch him and bring him in for questioning.

He came to a stop in a small clearing, his eyes darting around hoping to catch some kind of movement to point out where the person would be hiding. The sound of rustling could be heard but before the officer could fully turn around, he was knocked unconscious by a strike to the head.

"Now then, it seems like you're going to be my way in. Those League of Villains fools couldn't do anything right, it's time for me to take control." dark grey mist started to surround the fallen body before entering the man's nose and mouth.

The body began to jerk slightly before rising from the ground and standing before the stranger.

"It's time to start the change to this system, and you'll be one of my many pawns. You are in my control now go back and report you saw nothing."

Nodding numbly the now controlled policeman made his way back to where he was supposed to report in. With a smirk, the stranger walked back into the shadows waiting for the time to act once again.


	8. Character Bio - Izumi Toshihara

_Hello again everyone,_

 _As I said before in the note of the previous chapter, this will be a small bio of our character, Izumi Toshihara. This is will be a description of her abilities and limitations as well as some basic information like DOB and blood type. Unfortunately, my friend who volunteered to draw my OC still hasn't gotten back to me about that. I'm very frustrated about the situation because it's been months of him saying that it's done yet I have nothing to show for it._

 _Also, the update times will change due to the fact I changed my job, so my days off are totally different from before. I'll try my best to find a good time to keep posting regularly since I'm really scared of falling off the writing wagon - it has happened before. I want to finish this story no matter what, so I hope you don't mind waiting for a bit more longer than usual until I find a good rhythm._

 _As again I would like to thank you all for following this story and reading it as well, it motivates me to continue and push through some lazy writing days._

 _Moon._

 **Izumi Toshihara**

No photo, very very sad :(

 **Biographical Information**

Japanese Name

腹年若,泉

Romaji Name

 _Toshihara, Izumi_

Alias/ Hero Name

Silhouette, _Toshi_

 **Personal Description**

Birthday

July 3rd

Age

15

Gender

Female

Height

5' 4'' ( _162 cm_ )

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Navy Blue

Blood Type

AB+

Quirk

Shadow Touch

 **Status**

Status

Alive

Birthplace

Near Yamaguchi

Family

Noboku Toshihara ( _Father_ )  
Miho Toshihara ( _Mother_ )

Occupation

Student

Affiliation

U.A.

Team(s)

(not assigned yet)

Fighting Style

Medium-range

 **Shadow Mimicry:** _This ability allows Izumi to shift between forms, turning into shadow temporarily. With shadow walk she can easily blend into the surrounding shadows, even hiding inside others and travel. As well as creating tendrils and chains from her shadowy form. She can still be heard if she makes noises and can be exposed when concentrated bright light is shined on her from the neck up. While in shadow form, she can travel up to 30 mph and lasts 8 minutes before having to return to her physical form._

 **Shadow Solidification:** _Izumi can solidify her shadows into objects and simple constructs such as walls, barriers, and platforms. She can even create weapons, however more complicated things require knowledge about its' function. The solidification can range from loose jelly to metal. She needs to remain with 50 meters of her solidified shadows - any further and they will start to weaken and crumble away in 5 minutes._

 **Shadow Balls:** _Able to launch balls of shadows that are able to rapidly expand on contact with an object or when it reaches the chosen place. These balls are usually compressed that quickly expand to large sizes: for example, a bolt the size of a baseball can expand to become the size of a car. However there is a limit to how many balls she can create at a time, the maximum she is able to hold without difficulty is 10, more than their effect becomes weaker and weaker._

 **Shadow Needles:** _Creates and project needles/spikes of shadows to impale targets. These spikes can be projected in mid-air or generated from the ground; potentially creating a trail of needles._

 **Shadow Emissions:** _Releases waves, spirals, rings, pulse, blasts, balls, and bursts of shadows and use them to damage, push, bind and/or paralyze people. They are able to send energy through any form of matter creating ruptures, and create a pulse energy that can go through anything, and depending on what the user wants it can either be harmful or harmless. The longer the emissions, the more concentration she needs to keep - she can keep the ability up for a minute before tiring._

 **Shadowbeam:** _Can create and project beams of shadow of variable size and range, capable of destroying small to medium sized structures and/or areas and greatly damage anyone caught in the blast range. This is one of her more dangerous abilities and can cause her to get exhausted quickly depending on how long the beam is, her maximum range is 20 meters._

 **Shadow Flight:** _Fly, glide and/or levitate through manipulation of shadows. They can fly at numerous amounts of speeds, levitate, or propel themselves without taking flight, including enhanced jumping by a short boost of flight. Izumi's maximum speed is 30 mph if she is pushing herself 40 mph. The wings can be disabled by damaging them._

 ** _Power 3/5 C_**

 ** _Speed 3/5 C_**

 ** _Technique 4/5 B_**

 ** _Intelligence 4/5 B_**

 ** _Cooperativeness 3/5 C_**


	9. Fun times with Bakugo

_Hello all,_

 _It's me again, hitting you with another chapter of Duality. This will be taking place in between the day after the USJ incident, so it will be a filler before we jump back into the plot of the show. There will be an interaction between our main character Izumi and Bakugo, this will be the beginning of where they'll slowly start to get to know each other._

 _If you're looking to find out when I'll be updating, you could follow me to see when I start and when I'm close to posting the next chapters._

 _On another note, my new job is very taxing and physical so I've been having trouble finding the energy to writing. So please forgive me if it takes a bit longer than the previous chapters before, I know you all would like to read the next chapters as so as possible - so I'm trying to keep myself from falling off the wagon._

 _Thank you and enjoy,_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 8**

The news was buzzing about the USJ incident that just happened the day before, the public was shocked that something like that could happen at U.A. While the media was broadcasting everything to the public, the teachers at the school were trying to pinpoint where The League of Villains came from and who they were. The police were doing all in their power to find out all the information that would be helpful in exposing and getting rid of the threat.

The school was closed for a bit since the USJ attack, Izumi was trying to take it easy with those days off - but it was hard since she had kept thinking back to everything that happened that day.

Laying down on her bed as her navy blue eyes stared up at the ceiling as her train of thought continued to wander in all kinds of directions. Luckily, her mother was pretty busy during the evenings and early mornings so she hasn't really heard much. But that wouldn't stay like that much longer - once her mother heard about what happened, Izumi was sure that they would have a heavy conversation about it. Something that would surely end in a fight.

With a sigh, the teen got up and decided that it would be a good idea to try and avoid her mother when she got home, which would be pretty soon. Putting on some comfy pants and a baggy hoodie - she made her way out the door and left her apartment building. Wondering where she would go Izumi began to just wander around the area trying to find something interesting to do or be in.

After 20 minutes of walking, she made her way closer to downtown, hoping to go to an arcade and then get some food. That was the plan until she walked into the arcade building and spotted someone she didn't think she would run into.

' _Oh my god, it's that...is that Bakugo?!'_

The ashen blonde was playing some first-person shooter game and was focused on beating the game to have noticed her come inside. Hoping to avoid him and dealing with his horrible attitude before school - she snuck by him and made her way towards the fighting games where she could let loose and relax. Taking a seat she put in her change and pressed start to begin, letting her mind just turn off and enjoy one of her favorite pastimes. Maybe around the 15-minute mark, she received a challenge from the other player sitting across from her at the other facing machine. A confident smirk grew on her face and accepted - preparing to thrash the person who dare think they could beat her. Her name was in the top 3 highest scores in this fighting game, only to be topped by two other people, one being her old friend from middle school and the other was a regular player that she would chat to from time to time.

Once the character select screen passed and the stage was loading, Izumi moved closer to the monitor and her hands gripped the joystick firmly - making sure that her hand wouldn't slip off giving her opponent an advantage. The stage was set and the two video game characters faced off against each other, and as soon as the signal was given she was charging her fighter forwards. A punch was given throwing the other fighter back a bit before it got up and used a leg sweep to counter, she jumped the last second before landing another blow.

Next followed an uppercut sending her opponent into the air, right where she wanted him.

' _I've got you, as soon as you get in the air - I plan to keep you there!'_

Making her character jump, she smashed the buttons quickly performing combo after combo - juggling the other character in the air, and he could do nothing about it for he was stun locked. Izumi could hear growls of frustration across from her, she had her challenger flustered and angry at what was happening on the screen.

' _Perfect, that's right. Get angry, you'll lose faster that way.'_

The sounds of buttons being hit furiously from the other side, the opposing character finally managed to get a hit in stopping the flurries of attacks that kept him in the air. Her character landed on the ground on her back and in that time her opponent was already kicking while she was down.

' _Don't panic, just calm down and notice the pattern that they're doing. That tiny opening I'll turn the tide in my favor.'_

The very next attack she saw that opening and took that split second to strike, performing a backflip causing the other player to shoot up into the air. She landed the finishing blow with a high jump kick, and it was over. The announcer declared K.O and the match was done, looking up from the screen Izumi smiled in victory before standing up to see who was her opponent and say a few words. Just as her eyes reached over the machine - she saw who was on the other side...none other than Bakugo himself. And from the looks of it, he was shaking in fury about losing, his crimson eyes narrowed as his hands were still clenched around the joystick.

Quickly ducking back down into her seat Izumi was having a mental freak out about what to do next.

' _Goddamnit! Why did it have to be him of all people, I thought he was playing that damn shooter game! Time to make a quick exit!'_

Keeping her body crouched down to avoid her classmate from seeing her, she quietly as possible made her way from the fighting games. Sadly, Izumi didn't move fast enough and just as she was about to make a clean getaway the sound of speedy footsteps coming over to her side and stopping. Seeing that she had no choice but to face the music she stood up before the boy could reach her, she closed her eyes and sighed as now he was in front of her.

"Hello Bakugo, I see that you were my challenger and you lost." her voice exasperated, she knew that a fight was incoming.

"What the HELL?! You think you're better than me with that bullshit you just pulled?! You would have gotten your ass beat if you didn't use that juggling crap to stun lock me!"

"Look you, idiot, what I did was totally 100% legit, hell even in tournaments the pro gamers use those kinds of tactics all the time. It's not my fault you couldn't get yourself out of it, now please move I don't want to have to deal with you before school starts up again." she tried to sidestep around him but he blocked off her path.

He stepped closer hoping to intimidate her as he got up in her face, seeing that something was about to go down the other people around them started to crowd around.

"Listen here Shadow Witch, I bet I can beat you at any of these fucking games in this arcade." his voice was low and threatening as his face was pretty close to hers.

Seeing how close his face was Izumi couldn't help but notice that he was actually kinda good looking. But she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that anytime soon, knowing that hearing compliment would probably inflate his ego to the point of no return.

"Fine fine, whatever you want. Just stop being so close - you're in my personal space." she turned her head to the side hoping to put some distance between his face and her own.

"Get ready to have your ass kicked cause we're going to play that!" he pointed over to the racing game where players to shoot weapons that the other racers. Hearing that a battle was going to the people that formed the circle cheered and were abuzz with excitement.

The two teens made their way over to the racing game and sat down in their chosen seats before starting it up. Picking their chosen drivers and carts - they then picked which Grand Prix they wanted to play, only selecting the hardest one in the game. And with all that out of the way, the race was on!

"I can't believe we're tied for first place..this can't be happening right now.."

"Damn right it can't! How the hell do you have the same amount of points as me! I'm fucking better than your dumbass!"

"Well, this 'dumbass' is neck and neck with you. So the final race is going to be the tiebreaker, get ready to get stomped!"

"Like fresh hell, I'm going to let that happen!"

The two teen had a competitive aura surrounding them as they gripped the steering wheels tighter, ready to show the other that they were going all out. Once the light turned green it was a mad dash to beat each other, not wanting to lose. Izumi was making sure to stay behind Bakugo, who was in first place, and while he was there - he laughed loudly throwing insults at her. How she was a shitty driver and how she couldn't hit him for a dollar, but she was just biding her time, waiting once again for the right moment to show him who's boss. And finally that moment happened close to the end of the third lap, it was the final stretch of the race and she got the item was she hoping for. She threw her weapon at him a few feet from the finish line, his cart tumbled in the air - stopping him dead in his tracks as she blazed past him.

"You damn BITCH! Where do you think you're going, huh?!" his hands started to stem and smoke flow from his fingers as his grip on the steering wheel looked like it was about to crush it.

Bakugo quickly caught up to her and it was once again anyone's game. They rounded the final turn, Izumi drifted and manage to get a boost of speed putting her just ahead before the raging boy next to her and she passed the finish line first.

The crowd that was watching the entire thing were cheering and clapping seeing how close that last race was - leaning back into her seat she turned to look to see what might happen next.

Not a second later. "WHAT HOW COULD THAT BE?! I WAS FUCKING FIRST THE ENTIRE TIME!"

His head snapped to the side and red-eye pierced through her as he growled in anger and frustration at losing to her again.

"As much as I enjoyed winning, I'm outta here. I got other things to do today, so-" her sentence was cut short.

"One more game.." the boy's dusty blonde hair now covered his eyes and his clenched his fist.

"Wait, what? Look Bakugo, I had fun but now I'm done okay? I wanna go eat food and stuff.

"One More Game!" he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Fine fine, but I get to pick the last game we play. Got it?"

"Sure, yeah whatever. All I know is I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!"

Izumi knew the exact game she wanted to play, it was always the one she plays before leaving the arcade so she would be a good mood. Plus she didn't think that Bakugo was skilled with his feet besides when he was fighting - so it might be some good practice for him.

"We'll play DDR!"

"WHAT?! That shit game?! Don't think so, choose something else!"

"You said and I quote 'Sure, yeah whatever. All I know is I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!' when you said I could pick the final game we play. Back out now?"

"HUH!? The fuck you say?! Fine, I'll crush you at this game! Don't go crying when I beat your ass!"

"Trust me, you'll never see me cry."

They made their way to the DDR machine, upbeat J-Pop music coming through the speakers as lights were flashing to the beat.

"Now then, time to pick the song and difficulty - and I know just the song to pick too. The hard setting should be enough for you right, Bakugo?" her voice was sweet to goad the teen into shouting.

"Yeah, sure. Pick your shit song and let's do this thing."

Seeing the song that she wanted show up on screen, she quickly hit the enter button and everything was set. Izumi was smiling as she went over to her area before she did some light stretching to warm up her body. If she was gonna win and beat Bakugo at this game, she was going to do it in style - no holding back.

"Oh man, I can't believe we get to see Hara break out her dance move on this loser. He won't know what hit 'im!"

"Totally, he's gonna get recked so badly - but that's what he gets for letting her choose this game. She's the highest scoring player on it, he's doomed.."

More and more people started to murmur about the situation and the aggressive boy heard almost every single word that was coming from the crowd around them. Finally, having enough with the chattering, he whipped his body around as he let off a few explosions in the palm of his hand.

"Shut the hell up, you extras! I'm not gonna let her beat me so easily! Just watch as I beat the shit out of her!"

The sound of the music started to play signaling that it was just about to start. Turning his attention back to the screen in front of him, Bakugo was more than ready to show them all that he was going to thrash Izumi at her own game.

Colorful arrows flew over the screen at a swift pace, on Izumi's side of the monitor she was hitting all the arrows with perfect timing while his own - he kept missing some arrows but he was managing with the speed. He looked to his side, hoping to see his opponent struggling - but that wasn't the case at all. She..she was actually dancing to the music while hitting every single prompt.

Her moves are sharp and fast, her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they move effortlessly on the floor. Hips swaying and arms flowed like water as her dancing kept up to the beat without a care, to say he was upset would an understatement.

"Are you taking this seriously?! You're just showing the fuck off, huh?!"

"Yes, yes I am - but I'm also enjoying myself. So keep on stepping or you'll never beat me." Izumi let out a light laugh and continued her dancing to the music. Doing spins and turns like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Having enough of her taunting and not wanting to lose once again, Bakugo did something he normally wouldn't do. He got down on his knees and used his hands to hit the arrows.

"Hey, what the hell asshole, that's cheating!" she couldn't believe what he was doing.

"Shut up! I ain't cheating, I'm being smart!"

"Whatever, I'm gonna kick your ass by winning the real way!" her moves started to become a bit more aggressive.

The song was reaching the end and now the points were getting higher and closer to each other than before, feeling a small amount of panic rising in her chest Izumi was intensely focused on what was happening in front of her that she made a misstep. Her ankle buckled to the side causing her to fall over, she was about to hit her head on the hard metal platform of the DDR machine. Her eyes closed as her arms started to come up to protect her head, but she didn't feel any impact at all. At that moment, Bakugo had seen that she was falling and about to hit her head - luckily since he was already on his knees, he was able to catch her before anything could happen.

The music was done playing and the crowd around them watching voiced concerns about the girl, hoping she was alright. Some of them even clapped as Bakugo caught her, which the boy act quickly enough to help.

"Watch yourself you dumb idiot, that's what happens when you're not paying attention dumbass."

"I told you, don't call me a dumbass. And I was paying attention!"

She picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her clothes making sure everything was alright. Her dark blue eyes trailed up to the boy who just helped her from getting a pretty nasty bump on the head, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared him down.

"Thanks by the way, for catching my head."

"You're damn right you should be thankful!"

"Aaannnddd now I regret thanking you, way to be humble Bakugo. I'll make a point not to thank you in the future."

She turned her attention back to the screen which was now displaying the scores of the two players. Her mouth dropped slightly at what she was seeing, that moment when she slipped and fell caused her to lose. She couldn't believe what was happening, the selfish asshole had beaten her at her own game!

"Oi, look at me when I'm talking to you-" he turned to see what she was looking at so intently.

" FUCK YEAH! Look at that, I totally beat your ass! That's what you fucking get for showing off you dumb idiot!"

"I can't believe this is happening, all because I fucking slipped."

"Huh? What was that, you swearing now? I thought you were too good for that shit!"

The feeling of horror came over her as Bakugo continued to gloat about his victory in her face. She didn't hear a word he said as she was trying to absorb everything that was going on around her, her phone vibrated in her pocket which snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Shush, I'm taking a call!" she pulled out her phone and hitting answer.

"Huh?! What the fuck did you just say to me?! Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Izumi rolled her eyes at him before turning and walking away from all the noise to get some privacy. Unfortunately, someone couldn't take a hint.

"Hello?"

"Hi Izumi, it's me. Where are you right now?"

"Oh hi mom, I'm out right now. Why did you need something?"

"I was just wondering where you were since you aren't home now. Listen I need to talk to you about school."

The feeling of dread started to flow throughout her body as she knew what her mother wanted to talk about.

"Okay, what about U.A.?"

"I don't think you should go there anymore. I heard about what happened at work and I don't want you to back. I told you that choosing that work path would be dangerous and look what happened! A villain attack at school, where you're supposed to be safe."

"Can we not walk about this please, I don't want to get into another fight right now." Izumi turned around only to see Bakugo was still behind her, but he was strangely silent. The look on his face was serious as well, hoping to not have him around - she shooed him away but he wasn't moving.

"You don't understand what I'm saying at all, you don't know what you're getting yourself into by choosing to be a hero Izumi. You think you know what you want, but you don't - I'm telling you this for your own good."

"I'm not going to change schools just because you don't like what I'm doing okay? I know it's dangerous and I don't care about that! I told you that I wanted to be a hero and you were okay with that, now you're saying that you don't want that. You can't just change your mind!" her voice was getting more and more irritated by the second, her feet moving quickly to the exit. Once she made it outside she went into a side alley next to the arcade where it would be a bit more private.

"Izumi, you don't know what the real world is like! Why don't you listen to when people are trying to help you?"

"You're not trying to help me, you're trying to keep me from doing something that I want to do with my life! It's my choice to do what I want!"

"I don't know where you're getting these ideas from, girl. And don't give me attitude Izumi, now listen to me. I don't want you going back there to U.A."

She let out a growl as her hand gripped her phone tighter, "I'm not leaving U.A. I'm done talking about this. Conversation is over, okay?"

Her anger was rising quickly and she could feel her shadows starting to act out, the inky blackness swirled around her feet where she stood and her body was leaking misty black smoke.

"Why do you always cut off people when they're trying to talk some sense into you?!"

"It's done now, we're done talking about this. I'll be home later, I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay alright fine, I'll see you at home then."

"Good, bye." and with that, she hung up.

Her body was filled to the brim with tension as her anger simmered, without a thought her arm was surrounded with condensed shadows before smashing it against the wall behind her. After letting out a small bit of her rage she sank down the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest and tried to calm down. She didn't like it when she was angry, many people around her own say that she was scared and she needed to control her anger. But she thought she had great control, never once had anyone gotten hurt since her incident back in her second year in middle school. That was in the past now, nobody needed to know about what happened at all. The sound of shuffling feet continued to go by her as she continued to sit on the ground as she was calming down from that phone call.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing? Your old hag piss you off or something?" looking up to see who was speaking to her, none other than Bakugo.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"I don't have to listen to anything you say! You can't tell me what to do!"

"Yeah yeah okay, you can't be tamed." sighing before dropping her head onto her knees.

Hearing him come closer to her, he just stood next to her as they didn't speak for awhile.

"So was that it?" his voice sounding bored like he had nothing better to do.

"Was that what?"

"Idiot. Was your mom pissing you off? I heard you talking a bit before you came outside. Was it about that shit that happened yesterday?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, Bakugo, the self-centered asshole of Class 1-A actually had a decent conversation with her.

"Yeah, yeah it was. But it's nothing."

"Didn't sound like nothing, fine - you don't have to tell me jack shit."

"Exactly, I don't have to tell you anything." a smug smirk bloomed across her face.

Seeing her smug attitude, he let out a tsk, "Fucking fine then, last time I'll check to see if you're alright."

Picking herself off the ground before dusting her bottom off and she started to walk away from the ashen blonde boy next to her.

"Good, cause if you did then I would think something was seriously wrong with your brain."

With that said and done she waved goodbye to him, then she stopped to turn back and call out to him. "Hey Bakugo, don't think you're so great by beating me at DDR. You won by a freak accident - next time you won't be so lucky!"

"HUH?! Me beating you had nothing to do with luck, Shadow Witch! I was just better!"

"Sure, you keep thinking that, whatever helps you sleep at night! See ya!" lifting her hand she continued on her way from the arcade building and heading somewhere to eat.

She wanted to go somewhere that served her favorite food, before heading back home to deal with her mother. Despite not really saying anything about what happened to Bakugo, he managed to take her mind off of the conversation and helped her relax. She was somewhat thankful to him, but she kept her word about not thanking him again. She'll just thank him in her head instead.


	10. Heroic Aspirations

_Hello everyone,_

 _We're coming up on the U.A. Sports Festival in this chapter, setting up the characters' reasons as to why they want to become heroes. We'll see a tiny sparkle of backstory as to why Izumi is trying to become a pro-hero as well, we saw in the USJ arc - a validation of her choice into choosing this path._

 _Thank you to everyone reading this story, I'm so happy to see that so many people are interested and invested in this story so far. I hope to continue releasing the same quality as this story continues on._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 9**

A few days later U.A. started up classes again, and the whole class was abuzz about the news that was on last night. Everyone was discussing what happened - some were talking excitedly while others expressed concern about the next villain attack. Izumi could have cared less about the news, she was more worried about what her mother told her over the phone - she could literally pull her out of U.A. if she wished. Luckily, that was something she wouldn't do unless Izumi agreed with so she was safe for now.

The sound of a yelling Bakugo brought her back to earth. "Shut up! Be quiet, scum!"

Rather than going back to her previous thoughts, she decided that listening and conversing with her classmates would be better than dwelling on the past. The clock in the classroom showed the time being 8:24 AM, meaning that class would be starting pretty soon.

"Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!" Iida was still the same with her exaggerated arm movements and proper poster.

"We're already in our seats, you're the only one who isn't."

Seeing that they had a point Iida angrily made his way to his seat, his body shaking and his jaw tensed. Uraraka seeing that her friend was overreacting she offered calming words.

"Don't worry about it Iida-kun."

Izumi was wondering who was going to teach homeroom today, Mr. Aizawa was heavily wounded during the USJ attack. He must be in the hospital recovering and taking a break from teaching at the moment, maybe a substitute would be coming for the time being.

"Morning."

Everyone's eyes went over to the voice that was by the door, and it was quite the surprise to see Mr. Aizawa standing there - wrapped up in bandages as if he was a mummy. They were covering his face and mouth, his arms were both in casts with both on own being held in slings.

"Mr. Aizawa, you're back too soon!"

Kaminari's face was covered in slight horror at the teacher's condition. "You're too much of a pro!"

"So you're alright, Mr. Aizawa?"

"Can you really call that 'alright'?"

As he trudged towards the podium in the front of the class, he took his position as directed the entire class.

"My well-being doesn't matter. More importantly, the fight isn't over yet."

Hearing those words from his mouth piked everyone's interest.

"Fight?"

"Don't tell me…"

"The villains again…?!"

Beady eyes showing slightly through his bandages, Aizawa gazed at the class with a serious expression. Well as serious as he could show with his face being wrapped up.

"The U.A. Sports Festival is drawing near."

A brief moment of silence covered the room before it erupted in cries of joy.

"That's a supernormal school event!"

"Wait a minute..is it okay to have a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?"

"What if they attack us again or something…?"

The concern coming from the students were being voiced and their faces showed worry about the possibility of it happening again.

"Apparently, they think of it as U.A. showing that our crisis management system is solid as a rock by holding the event. Security will also be strengthened to five times that of the previous years. Above all, our sports festival is a huge chance - it's not an event to be canceled because of a few villains."

Izumi had seen some of the previous years' festivals, while she wasn't really much into sports at all - she always looked forward to seeing what would happen. She couldn't really even believe that she was going to be participating in The U.A. Sports Festival. It was always a huge thing, overtaking even the Olympics games - it was crazy!

"Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events and the whole country is crazy about it. All the top heroes will be watching to scout you and make offers for internships afterward, of course joining a famous hero agency will get you more experience and popularity.

Time is limited, if you want to go pro then the path to your future will open up with this event. Once a year - a total of three chances. No aspiring heroes can miss this event if you understand that then don't slack off on your preparations!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Homeroom is dismissed."

With that Aizawa left the classroom and the students resumed talking before their first class of the day could begin. Many expressing excitement over the thought about getting into the agency of their dreams, working with the pro heroes they look up to the most.

' _Like Mr. Aizawa said, this is the chance of a lifetime for anyone who wants to be a hero. I need to step up my game if I'm gonna take any kind of offers.'_

The bell rang signaling that it was lunchtime, and everyone was once again chattering up a storm about the sports festival. Kirishima's voice echoed through the air as he shouted his excitement, he seems to be a ball of unbridled energy. It seemed that the rest of the class was feeling the same as him about the matter, everyone was talking about the upcoming event.

Leaving her desk Izumi made her way over to her friends who were standing around Iida, Midoriya looked like he was frozen in place.

"Everyone's really into it." his voice seeming somewhat shocked.

"You're not? We have enrolled here to become heroes, so of course, we would get fired up!" shooting straight up from his seated position Iida was now standing in another over exaggerated pose of his.

"Iida, it's strange to see you so worked up over something like this." Izumi commented.

"Midoriya-kun, don't you feel the same?"

"Of course I do, but something's…"

From behind the trio of friends, a low gravelly female voice came out of nowhere.

"Deku-kun, Iida-kun, Izumi-san…" hearing their names being called the three turned their attention towards the voice only to see Uraraka standing in an aggressive stance. The aura around her was intense for her as her normally bright brown eyes darkened, taking a step back they voiced their concern.

"Let's do our best at the sports festival."

"U-Uraraka-san, your face...It's.."

Popping out from behind the three Mina chimed in. "What's the matter? You don't look carefree at all, even though that's what your name means."

The brunette fortified her menacing stance and thrust her fist into the air, "Everyone, I'm going to do my best!"

Everyone around the girl gave out a cheer, Iida and Mina's were more enthused compared to Izuku and Izumi's - who was taken aback by the shift in character. The girl swiftly turned to the right and shouted the same thing towards Tokoyami, Sato, Sero, and Kirishima who were just as put out as her other two friends.

"What's wrong? Your personality is all over the place."

After Uraraka calmed down from her sudden burst of aggression, the small group of friends made their way to the cafeteria to get something to eat. As the traveled to the first floor Midoriya spoke up and asked a question that was on his mind.

"Uraraka-san."

"Yes?"

"Why did you decide to come to U.A. and become a pro-hero?"

"Wow, that question came out of nowhere Midoriya. Why the sudden curiosity?" while Izumi was also wanting to hear the answer to that question, she wondered where that came from in the first place.

"Um..well…" Uraraka gave the answer they were all waiting from. And it was a bit of a surprise.

"For money?! You want to become a hero for money?"

The cheerful girl was now scratching the back of her head furiously as she revealed her reason, her eyes moving to the side to avoid everyone's gaze.

"To boil it down simply, yes...Sorry, it's such an unwholesome reason. Both Deku-kun and Iida-kun have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing…"

"Why? How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?

Midoriya also joining in with a nod and a grunt of affirmation. "Right. But it's unexpected."

"Uraraka, we're not going to judge you for your reason to becoming a hero, we just would like to know a bit more about you."

Taking a small sigh with her hands on her cheeks she started to explain herself.

"My family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work at all so we're flat broke. This isn't really something to tell other people, though…" her hands were now moving around underneath her hair as she nervously began her story.

"Construction…"

"With her quirk, if she gets licensed, then it would bring costs way down right?" Izuku was piecing together some of the upsides.

"She could make any raw material float, they wouldn't need any heavy equipment."

"Guys, shush. She's trying to tell us her reason.."

"Right?! That's what I told my dad when I was little!" once again Uraraka was very animated in her gestures as the boys were listing off the positives.

"But..then he told me that he was thankful for me thinking about them, they would be much happier if I could achieve my dream. I'll definitely become a hero and make money and let my parents take it easy." her hands now gripping her skirt as she looked forward at her friends with eyes set in her goal.

Seeing that serious determined look on her face was something they haven't seen before from her. It was a bit shocked but it caused them to see that Uraraka was willing to do anything to reach her dream and help her parents. Snapping everyone out of that wonderful moment, Iida clapped with vigor before shouting in the hallway they were standing in.

"Bravo! Uraraka-kun bravo! BRAVO!"

Izumi decided to join in on the clapping as well, though a bit more toned down. "That's a wonderful reason Uraraka. It's so sweet of you to do that, you're just so kind" her voice was rising higher in pitch as she tried to control herself from crushing her friend in a hug.

Their attention was suddenly turned to a hearty laugh that was getting closer to them, a laugh that was easily recognized - it was All Might rushing in.

"Young Midoriya is here!" he pointed dramatically at the boy as everyone else stood in astonishment.

"All Might? What's the matter?"

"Lunch! Wanna eat together?" he brought up a bento wrapped a light blue cloth with a white bunny pattern on it. His hand moved up to his chest in a shy girlish gesture.

"He's like a maiden!"

"How about it?" the boy looked back at his friends to see if it was okay with them, seeing the nods he went to have his lunch with his hero.

"I'd love to."

The remaining three friends continued on their way to the cafeteria and they stood in line waiting to get their food.

"I wonder what he wanted with Deku-kun."

His hands snapping up into position, Iida joined in. "I heard that when All Might was attacked by villains during the USJ incident, he rushed out alone to help. Perhaps it's about that?"

"Oh yeah!"

"It is true that he did to that, I guess I could see why All Might would want to talk with him."

And remember was Asui-san said on the bus about his quirk being similar to All Might's? The boundless power they both have are similar too, so maybe he has taken a liking to him. He's amazing."

Uraraka nodded furiously agreeing to everything Iida had said.

"I suppose that could be true, well whatever the case is - I'm sure Midoriya is fanboying so hard right now." Izumi laughed just picturing their friend trembling with joy about having lunch with All Might.

The other two joined in the laughter as they made their way to a table and began to eat. After a while of talking about school and whatnot, Uraraka paused before staring straight at Izumi.

"So why did you want to become a hero Izumi-chan?"

Her question caused the raven-haired girl to choke on what she was eating, quickly grabbing her water - drank it in order to clear her airway.

"W-What do you mean?" her voice came out nervously.

"Awww come on, you heard why I decided to be a hero - now it's your turn to share!" her cheeks puffed out as she pouted in her seat.

"Uraraka-kun, you shouldn't pressure her into answering your question. Though I do admit, I too am curious." Iida put in his two cents about the topic.

Seeing that there was no way out of the conversation, Izumi was hoping that she could dance around the question - maybe give in some vague answers. But she was sure that their curiosity would only grow.

"W-Well, it's a pretty r-recent decision you know. Nothing that like you or Iida who had wanted to be heroes most of your lives, it was in my second year of middle school actually. There was an incident that happened while I was there and I went into some counseling and with the support of a good friend of mine - I thought about the option of becoming a hero." she really wanted to keep the story vague, Izumi didn't want to relive the whole thing again. It was in the past, nothing in the past could be changed.

"Tell us more! What happened at your middle school, if it was big I'm sure that it was on TV." Uraraka leaned in closer and closer as she rapid fired questions causing Izumi to become more and more uncomfortable.

"I don't really want to go into detail about that, it's kind personal." she resumed eating again, the tone in her voice showing that she was done with talking about it.

"Well whatever happened at your school, I'm sure that your reason is noble and just. After all, you're here in U.A. where heroes are molded to serve society!" Izumi tuned out what Iida said after that, knowing that he was going on a tirade.

' _The past is in the past, nothing can change it no matter what I do. No reason to think about it anymore, I'm moving forward and doing something I truly want to be. That's enough for me, it's enough to keep walking ahead.'_


	11. Race towards the Goal

_Hello everyone,_

 _We're now starting the Sports Festival Arc! I think this person says it best…_

 _watch?v=qck7Jh-CDhw_

 _That's right ladies and gentlemen, we have entered one of the best arcs in My Hero Academia! Where the action never ends and characters get pushed to the limit! Where some rise above it all and others fall to the pits of loserdom, character arcs are starting to develop and introductions to all new characters in the story!_

 _Oh my god, I've been super excited about writing this arc since I started writing this story. The fight scene will be amazing to write! You can just tell that I'm just oozing excitement from writing this note for you all._

 _Prepare for balls to the wall action and fights that cause ships and best boys/girls to sail into the great beyond! I'm sure that everyone remembers those moments when you were watching and you were fully behind a character and their goals. How invested you were when you saw a character you related with step up to the plate! GOD I LOVE TOURNAMENT ARCS!_

 _Fights will have music that I listened to on repeat while writing those scenes. If you are curious about what the music was when I cranking those scenes out, they will be listed on the bottom of each chapter._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 10**

It was the end of the school day and the students of Class 1-A were gathering their belongings before heading for home, but upon opening the door to leave they all saw something they didn't expect. A horde of other students gathered around the exit of the room and were just peering into the classroom, looking at the class inside. Some even pulled out phones to grab some video and pictures of the people inside.

"W-What's going on?" Uraraka's warm brown eyes widen at the sight in front of her, she was surprised to see so many people just standing around looking at them.

With a sense of seriousness, Iida addressed the horde of students blocking their classroom door. "What business do you have with Class A?"

"We can't get out! What did you come here for anyway?" Mineta voicing concern before shaking his fist in the air at them.

His bag tossed over his shoulder and hands shoved in his pockets, Bakugo walked past the rest of the class who were standing around in confusion. His expression was mixed with annoyance and calm at all the commotion of what was going on.

"Scouting out the enemy, small fry. We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack." while he was speaking, Mineta was trembling in shocked outrage at what Bakugo called him. Midoriya was trying to calm the purple headed boy and silently apologizing for his words.

Coming to a stop in front of the crowd, the ashen blonde whose face was in a permanent scowl - glared at them causing a few students in the front to take a step back away from the hostile boy.

"There's no point in doing stuff like that, out of my way extras!"

Popping up from behind him Iida, Uraraka, and Izuku just stared at him in horror before Iida started to wave his arm in a chopping motion.

"Stop calling people 'extras' just because you don't know them!"

Izumi just stood there with her navy blue eyes sliding closed after hearing Bakugo insult the other students. She wasn't really surprised at his reaction and what he was doing at all - it would be strange if he didn't. But she knew that what the boy was saying would cause the other students outside of Class 1-A to hate them all, assuming that everyone in the class was like him. She just shook her head before walking up next to the annoyed spiky headed boy and kicked his foot lightly.

"Hey, don't be an asshole to the other students, idiot. Stop causing problems for others, at least try to be decent." her voice coming out as a sigh knowing that this would just end up giving her grieve.

"HUH?! Don't fucking kick me, you Shadow Witch! You think you can tell me what to do?!"

Her eyes rolling to the head of her head as Bakugo continued to yell in her face, a voice spoke up from the mass of students.

"I came to see what the famous Class A was like, but you seem pretty arrogant." a head of feathery indigo hair made their way closer to the door before stepping out of the crowd.

"Are all students in the herp course like this?" droopy eyes staring at the group of Class A students that were at the door.

Mineta, Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka were all shaking their head violently denying that they were anything like Bakugo. Izumi, who was standing next to the 'example' of Class 1-A looked at the teen who spoke up and smiles tiredly at him.

"No, none of the class is like this prick over here. Don't mind him, he's just someone who as a chip on his shoulder." she snapped her head over to Bakugo - setting him with a dead-eye glare.

He was having none of that, his face scrunched up as he continued to listen to what was being said in front of his face.

"You know, seeing something like this makes me disillusioned. There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn't make it into the hero course. Did you know that?"

Everyone remained silent, that didn't know about that piece of information at all.

"The school has left those of us a chance, depending on the results of the sports festival they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out. Scouting out the enemy? I, at least, came to say that even if you are in the hero course if you get too carried away - I'll sweep your feet out from under you. I came with a declaration of war."

All that were able to hear were completely quiet, not a sound was made while the strange boy told his speech. The tension was thick in the air, both Bakugo and the indigo haired boy continued to stare at each other until the shout of another student broke the tension.

"Hey, hey! I'm from Class B next door, I heard you fought against villains so I came to hear about it! Don't get so full of yourselves!" spit flew from his mouth as he went on and on.

Seeing that this gathering has turned into a circus Izumi decided it was time to leave, she looked to Bakugo and walked past him.

"Congratulations, you just caused problems for the rest of us. Nice job. Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow Iida, Midoriya and Uraraka." waving goodbye to her friends as she made her way through the students that clustered around their classroom.

Kirishima running up to the front of the door where Bakugo was still standing.

"Wait a minute Bakugo! What are you gonna do about all this?! It's your fault everyone is hating on us!"

He turned to answer with a look of confidence and calm. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter as long as you rise to the top." and with that said he followed Izumi's path that she made through the crowd.

Two weeks. Two weeks was all everyone had before the sports festival would start, the entire class was focused on training to improve themselves. They all knew that those who did better would have better chances at getting offers from internships, the students were putting their all into training. Izumi was no different - though she preferred to do hers in private away from the eyes of other, she liked it that way. The element of surprise was always something she liked when battling against opponents, no matter who they were. While her quirks were adaptable to all kinds of situations, her close combat was something she needed to work on.

She wanted all her bases covered so she wouldn't be on the losing end of any fight that would cross her way. For the entire two weeks, she mainly focused on kickboxing and dodging out of the way of punches, kicks, and objects being thrown at her. Luckily, her gymnastics coach was able to refer her to a friend of his who was skilled in the art of hand to hand combat.

Every day after school she would go over and strengthen her close fighting skills, even integrating her quirk with some of the moves she was learning in the meantime. She was even able to use a staff that her tutor had given her with the hopes that a little weapon training could be useful as well. It was taxing on her body, waking up in the morning with sore muscles and feeling fatigued to the point where she would pass out earlier than her normal time for bed. But it would be all worth it in the end, Izumi would be the one standing at the top of the podium. She needed to shine in order to prove that she was capable of getting the pro heroes attention.

The final three days before the festival was about to start, her hand to hand tutor told her that she should take the remaining few days to rest up so she could be in peak condition. No point in pushing her body only to have it give out on her on the day that she truly needed it - Izumi agreed and was handed a sheet with warm-up exercises that would keep her skills sharp.

And with the final three days over and done with, it was finally the day of the sports festival. Her mother was standing behind her watching her put on her shoes and getting ready to be out the door, but her hand could reach the handle her mom stopped her.

"I'd rather you didn't do this Izumi. I keep telling you over and over that this is just a phase, something you saw on TV and thought was a good idea. You should be going to a normal school and learning to do something with your life, what's going to happen when you get older?"

Not wanting to hear the same speech again, she quickly placed her backpack on her shoulders and looked behind her.

"I'm doing this because it's something I want to do with my life, it's not a passing fad." and with that, she opened the door and slammed it behind her.

' _I'm going to prove to you that_ _ **I will become a pro-hero.**_ _No matter what you say, nothing is going to stop me from doing this. Nothing.'_

The front gate was once again flooded with reporters as they waiting to get their belongings checked. The main path to the building was paved with stalls selling their wares and food with signs showing which stadiums the different years will be participating in.

Everyone from Class 1-A was in the waiting room that was assigned to them, dressed in their P.E uniforms talking about what the first event would be. Izumi, on the other hand, was listening to her favorite songs in order to psych herself up for the upcoming battle ahead. Headphones canceling out most of the sound that was being made by the others.

' _I need to focus and make sure nothing distracts me from winning, I have something to prove. Losing is failure...I can't be a failure.'_

Feeling someone tap her on the shoulder, peeking over her shoulder she saw Uraraka was beside her. Taking off her headphones Izumi smiled at her friend in thanks as she moved to put away the rest of her things, but she stopped when she noticed Todoroki talking to Midoriya.

"Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than you."

"Huh? Y-Yeah." the green haired boy was surprised that Todoroki was saying something to him, let alone those words.

"But...All Might has his eye on you, doesn't he? I'm not trying to pry about that, but I'm going to beat you." the look on the dual-haired boy's face was stoic.

"Oh? Is the best in the class making a declaration of war?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you suddenly picking a fight all of a sudden?" Kirishima who had gotten out of his seat with a look of concern etched on his face. He placed his hand on Todoroki's shoulder hoping to calm the situation from getting worse. But the quiet teen was having none of it.

"We're not here to make friends, so what does it matter?" he walked away with his piece being said.

"Todoroki-kun, I don't know what you're thinking when you say you'll beat me - but of course you're better than me. I think you're the more capable than most people...Looking at it objectively…" All eyes were on Izuku as he spoke.

Kirishima wanting to turn down the somber and tense mood in the room smiled weakly as he waved his hand around. "Midoriya, you probably shouldn't talk so negatively…"

"But, everyone -" his words stopping Kirishima from continuing.

"The students from the other courses are aiming for the top with everything they've got! I can't afford to fall behind. I'll be going for it with everything I have too."

Seeing the conviction in Izuku's eyes was enough for everyone in the room to know that he wasn't going to just roll over and give his spot to anyone.

"Yeah."

The roar of the crowd inside the stadium was thunderous, Izumi could literally feel her bones vibrate from the noise. Present Mic was working everyone into a frenzy of excitement and anticipation, all eyes would be on them now - and knowing this she was more than ready to strut her stuff.

Taking her first steps pass the entrance into the light, her face was the picture of stoic and seriousness. Her back and shoulders pushed back with confidence, making sure she was radiating the maximum amount of poise and grace that she possessed.

Fireworks launching up into the sky and exploding in an array of colors as the crowd cried out with excitement as they saw Class 1-A walking out of the gate. Izumi's mind ignored the crowd, she was dead set on her goal - she was very aware of the many pro heroes that were present at the stadium, let alone watching the broadcast on TV. She was going to perform for them and only them, everyone else was unimportant.

With all the first years finally together in the center, on a small wooden stage stood someone nobody expects to be there with the first years.

"Time for the player pledge!"

Fogler in hand there stood the R-rated hero Midnight. She quickly silenced the murmuring from the group of students in front of her with an authoritative shout.

"Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo from Class 1-A!"

Looks of surprise came on the faces of the class as the stared at Bakugo.

' _I suppose that's reasonable, he was the first place student in the entrance exam. Though I have a feeling he's going to just cause more trouble for us...Goddamnit.'_

Students from the other courses made snappy comments about how the hero course students got all the attention while the rest of them were left to the sidelines. Rolling her dark blue eyes Izumi ignored them - but she was still irritated about all the hostility against their class. While it was true that many of the population was looking towards them, it wasn't like they wanted to be attacked by villains. It was just other people's jealousy that she was annoyed with.

Her eyes wandered back to Bakugo as now climbing up the steps towards the microphone. His hands in his pockets and his P.E pants shoved into his hero costume boots, she had to admit - he looked good, she would keep that comment to herself. Everyone waited with baited breath as they kept their eyes on the dusty blonde who was representing them all, his face was dispassionate and crimson eyes looking bored.

"I pledge - That I'll be number one."

The entirety of Class 1-A shouted in despair as they heard those words leave his mouth, Bakugo had just sealed their fate.

"Jesus Christ Bakugo! What the hell!?" Izumi cried out before resounding shouts of protests from of the other students.

"Why are you doing something so disgraceful?!" Iida was just as furious as everyone else.

Turning his body to face his fellow first years, his voice continued to sound just as bored and blase as when he made his mini-speech. "At least become a nice bouncy step for me to jump off of." his thumb pointing downward to everyone behind him.

' _That damn bastard! I'm going to kick his ass if I get the chance! How can he look so good saying that!? Damn asshole!'_ her right eye twitched as her lips were set in a hard frown.

He walked down the step, passed Iida who was flailing his arms up and down like a robot - strode pass Midoriya. On his way back to his previous spot next to Kirishima he spotted Izumi, who was glaring at him as if she wanted to punch him in the face hard. Their eyes made contact for a moment, looking at each other - they both know that neither one of them were going to back down.

"Now, let's get started right away. The first game is what you would call a qualifier, every year many drink their tears here! Now here is the first fateful game!" a huge digital screen came up from behind Midnight, the wheel spinning until it stopped on the event.

Obstacle race.

"All eleven classes will participate in this race, the course will be the outer area of the stadium which is about four kilometers! Our school's selling point is freedom - as long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do! Now take your places, everyone!"

The first years quickly made their way to the gate that led out to the obstacle race, Izumi made sure she moved quickly to the front. Luckily, she was thin enough to easily pass through people's shoulders - she wanted every advantage she could get in this race. Friends be damned, in her mind right now friends were just people that needed to be beaten in order to reach her goal. The first green light had fade signaling the race was about to start, everyone was getting into position ready to burst out that door.

The second light went dark, the shadows that were in the narrow hallway started to dance around before gathering at her feet - though nobody really noticed. Her anticipation was causing this to happen, she didn't really have much control over it since it was all subconscious. Taking a deep breath before letting out a long exhale, she calmed her heartbeat as her gaze never left the door in front of her. The final light was off and Midnight shouted the start and Izumi was off sprinting ahead of some of the students surrounding her. She still somewhat caught in the squirming bodies of others as they tried to push their way out.

"God, this is why I hate crowds so much." people were stepping on her feet and elbows being shoved into her sides.

Suddenly she smelt something that wasn't normal, cold air. Thinking fast she shifted into her shadows and climbed up the wall on the side before the ground she was standing on was covered in ice. The ice continued to move up the walls and she needed to move fast before she was trapped behind the ice, the shadow user flew across the side of the wall - ice quick on her tail. Just as she was about to pass the door she could the ice nipping her from behind - her shadow form jumping out into the daylight just as ice started to cover the outer wall of the exit. Plopping onto the ground she continued to charge forward as she began to shift out of her shadow, but the ground in front of her was turning into ice as well.

"Todoroki. Smart move, but I'm no pushover." she noticed that the wall the surrounded the main path were icing over, so she moved there and came out fully before landing on the icy path. She skated down the way keeping her eyes forward, making sure not to look back - this was a competition if she saw her friends struggling she felt the pull to help them.

She heard the sounds of explosions and shouts of some very familiar voices coming up close behind her. She smirked at their tenacity and determination.

"Naive Todoroki!"

"I won't let you get away so easily! Shadow Witch! Half and Half Bastard!"

' _Seems like they're not going down without a fight. I like that, it would be no fun if I didn't get some strong opponents.'_

Purple balls landed right in front of her and she moved out of the way, not wanting to be anywhere near something in her path. Looking overhead she saw Mineta throwing his balls and bouncing to each of them, he was quickly catching up to Todoroki.

"I've outwitted you Todoroki, how pathetic! Take this! My special attack! Gra-" he was interrupted by a metal object smacking him out of the sky and he cartwheeled off the path.

Skidding to a complete stop Izumi looked up only to see towering over her were the machines from the entrance exam. Not just any machines, the zero point villains - they moved to attack Todoroki, who was ahead of her. The boy took no time in acting, he crouched down, left hand touching the ground underneath him. Ice surrounds under his feet and whipped around him forming ice spikes. His left arm swung in a large arc, sending a huge blast of ice towards the attacking zero pointer - freezing it in place.

' _Holy shit! That's crazy, I gotta make sure not to fall behind.'_

Todoroki, with his work done, he ran forwards underneath the robot's legs. The other students making their way towards it hoping they were also able to pass through. Metal groaning could be heard as ice started to fall of the huge metal monstrosity before it came crashing down. A giant cloud of dust and ice covered the area as it hit the ground, causing everyone not being able to see.

Izumi was waving away the dust from her face as she heard metal shrieking behind and jumped out the way.

"Seems like I have one of my own to handle before I can do anything else. It's time to play with this thing."

As the cloud finally started to dissipate she got a clearer view of her opponent, she knew if she could take one of these down her skill would definitely get noticed. Dodging out of the way from some laser fire she gathers the shadows around her, they swirled around her feet before she lifted her hand and the shadow followed her hand's movements. They formed four large balls the floated in the air before lengthening into thick giant needles, with a smile she launch her arm out in a sweeping motion and the huge shadow needles pierced one of the zero pointer's joints. The others quickly doing the same - keeping the robot from moving, let alone attacking her.

Leaping upon her needles she made her way to its' head, reaching her destination she looked out at the view in front of her.

"This is amazing, you can almost see the whole course from up here. I'm glad they brought these things out, I can have some fun and play a bit with them."

Spotting what the next obstacle would be, she jumped down from the robot's head and landed safely to the ground thanks to more of her shadows cushioning her landing. Turning her back she lifted her hand causing the needles to come out of the joints, without that nothing was holding the huge thing up and it started to tip over and land with a crush. Calling back the shadows to her feet she ran forward - moving onto the next part of the course, she was just getting started.


	12. Push it to the Limit

_Hello all,_

 _It's me again coming at you with a new chapter of Duality, I know it's been awhile since I've updated. My writing wagon took a pit stop and need to be repaired before I could bust this chapter out. Hopefully, this chapter contains the same amount of quality as the previous one all held, these past couple of weeks have been a wee bit hard on me. But I refuse to let it stop me from writing too long because I know that you all are looking forward to the next chapter of this story._

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 11**

The sound of explosions and the ground shaking underneath her feet, Izumi could tell that the other student behind her were making work with the robots. Making sure that she was keeping a steady pace as she ran, not wanting to get winded too quickly into the race - the last leg she would need to sprint hard in order to make it past Todoroki who was currently in the lead. She could she the next part of the course, and she was prepared since she got a good look from the top of the robot she destroyed.

Coming to a stop just on the edge she looked down only to see the utter darkness that peered up at her from below.

"Okay, these pits are deeper than I thought they would be. How did they even do this?"

Footsteps coming from behind signaled that the others were reaching the current obstacle, many of the footfalls fell silent as they stood in shock at what they had to overcome.

"When did they build this stage?" Uraraka's voice was filled with amazement but trepidation.

Wasting no time in freaking out about how long the drop would be, Izumi decided that the best way for her to cross would be a path - not having to worry about balancing on the metal ropes that were available. Her shadow extended into a long thin line, once reach across the large gap to the next earthen platform in front of her, it widened providing her a safe way across. Taking her first steps making sure that she made the pathway thick enough to run on she started to make her way forward.

"Hey, that girl made a path over to the next platform! Come on, let's go before she gets rid of the thing!"

Hearing that some other competitors were hoping to piggyback off of her quirk made her slightly annoyed, she thinking fast Izumi called the path back towards her as she was making her way closer to the other side. They would have to find another way past the obstacle without her help, she heard the cries behind her - calling her a cheater and the like for not helping them.

"Since when does another competitor help another without proper reason? Sorry but if you can't make it on your own and you're trying to get a free ride out of me, you better think again." her voice sounding cold, but she was saying what was reasonable.

She turned to face the rest of the way, it was going to take some time to make each pathway across, but it was going to be much faster than the others who were crawling across with the rope. Her dark blue eyes caught a figure in the distance making their way closer the to end and she knew exactly who that was - Todoroki. That boy was impressive to say the at least, having no problem with this course at all so far. And from behind she could hear something else that was coming in fast, a crash-landed next to her and dust went into her eyes.

"Move outta the way witch! I'm going after that half and half bastard, I don't need you slowing me down!" and the person was gone again blasting off into the distance hoping to catch up with the boy in the lead.

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve Izumi growled in annoyance, before sending out her shadow again making another path for her to cross. She maintained a fast pace not wanting to be left behind in the dust by Bakugo.

' _There's no way that I'm letting him beat me, I'm sure he's going to lord it over me until the day I die. I gotta pick up the pace if I'm ever going to get a chance at reaching the two of them.'_

It was a few minutes later that she finally reached the end of the obstacle and now she was running in a sprint hoping to at least catch up to the boys in front of her. She was determined to at least come in at the top three, she continued to push her body harder in order to reach her goal. She spotted the sign in front of her, though couldn't get a clear read on what it said - noticing that she was getting close to the leaders. Todoroki stopped for a brief moment before continuing on his run to the finish. After reaching the final part of the course she understood why, mines.

' _Really?! A damn minefield! Are these people crazy or do they just not care anymore?'_

Taking a deep breath and releasing a huge sigh, Izumi slowly started to make her way through the minefield - some other students had made their way to them a bit more quickly than she thought they would. Her feet moved faster wanting to have the biggest advantage she could get when she reached the end, luckily her gymnastics couch always encouraged light and quick steps. She never really thought that it could also apply to walk through a minefield, but life throws you curveballs at times. The sound of mines detonated behind her made it hard to get the right footing as the ground kept shaking almost constantly. Her eyes lifted to see just how far Todoroki was only to see that Bakugo was flying straight at him, he was using his explosions to rocket through the air without touching the ground - bypassing any need to be worried about mines. And when the spiky-headed ashen blonde got right next to his opponent he attacked, Todoroki dodged quickly.

"You gotta be kidding me are they really duking it out over a minefield!" Izumi couldn't believe her eyes.

The two leaders were now fighting against each other hand to hand, hoping that the other would slip up and get pushed behind them - they would still dodging the mine beneath their feet. Not wanting to be left behind in their shadow she started to move closer to them making sure to leave a wide enough gap so hopeful they wouldn't notice her sneaking past them. Her eyes kept darting to the ground to watch where she was stepping and back to them, making sure that she went around them unnoticed.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion from behind and caught her attention immediately, her head snapped in the direction of the blast - a large pink smoke cloud covered a good portion of the area. The light was blinding, it finally calmed down and through the smoke, a figure soared in the sky coming towards them at with a look of pure determination in his green eyes.

Midoriya sailed over their heads, seeing that they were about to lose their lead Bakugo, Izumi and Todoroki forgot everything and just started sprinting after the green-haired boy who had taken the lead from them all. Todoroki creating an icy path for himself in order to even have a chance at overcoming the timid teen, not caring if he was helping the other students behind him. He was more focused on beating the boy in front of him than the people he already passed.

Seeing that time was of the essence and Izuku was pulling further ahead, Izumi shifted into her shadow form and weaving around the mines at a speed that any normal person couldn't hope to match. Meanwhile, Bakugo wasn't having any of them try and beat him, he launched into the air with his explosions raging just at the thought of Midoriya beating him once again.

"Deku! Don't go ahead of me!" his cry traveling through the air, making sure everyone could hear him.

All three of them were rushing towards the lead, shifting back into her normal form once she was clear of most of the mine Izumi pumped her legs forward hard - she was neck in neck with Todoroki and Bakugo who were just about to overtake Izuku.

"Out of my way you two, you're in the way!"

"I don't think so, you're not getting pass me Toshihara."

"There's no way in hell I'm giving up my top spot to you Shadow Witch! Fuck off!"

All three were just about to pass the falling down and take the lead once again, but Midoriya did something that neither of them would expect. Sailing through the air the freckled face boy was cruising on a large metal plate of some kind and he still had it with him in his head. With it in hand he slammed the ground between the three of them causing the mine beneath their feet to explode, the blast threw Bakugo and Todoroki to the side while Izumi was launched backward. Putting her further back and Izuku pushed past the gigantic cloud of pink smoke and ran. He ran as hard and as fast as he could, while those behind him were regaining their balance and continuing to chase after him in a mad sprint to the finish.

Izumi was a bit more behind the three boys, she just keep running, she had to try and reach them - her chest was hurting from the extent of her quirk usage and stamina running low. But she wouldn't give up so easily, clenching her teeth and shutting her eyes she surged forward, the sound of running footsteps in front of her getting closer and closer. She could tell that she was starting to creep up on them, her arms and legs pushing her body forward as hard as they could.

Running, running and running some more she was just at the end of the dark hallway that was entering the stadium. Finally breaking through into the light with sweat running down her face and her breath coming out in harsh pants, she knew. She knew that she didn't make it into the top three like she wanted - Izumi came in 4th. Just behind Bakugo. Confetti floating through the air like snow as she leaned against the wall, her head was getting a bit dizzy and her body was crying out for something to drink.

She kept her eyes closed as she tried to keep the world from spinning, mentally she groaned.

' _Goddamnit! I hate running long distances so much, I always get too overheated when I push myself. I really need to cool down and quick or else I feel like I'm going to pass out any moment here. That's something I definitely don't want anyone else to see.'_

She had caught her breath when she looked up from the ground and stared at her friend who had come in first place. Seeing some tears gathered in his eyes as he had a shaky smile on his face, Izumi couldn't help but feel happy for the guy.

"Well, I guess losing to someone like Midoriya isn't so bad. He works hard so, I'll be graceful in losing this time." she had her own smile on her face thinking about how happy he must be.

After awhile all the first year student were in the stadium, and they gathered around the center stage where Midnight was standing.

"The first game of the first year stage in finally over. Now, take a look at the results!"

 **Class A : Izuku Midoirya**

 **Class A : Shoto Todoroki**

 **Class A : Katsuki Bakugo**

 **Class A: Izumi Toshihara**

 **Class B: Ibara Shiozaki**

 **Class B: Juzo Honenuki**

 **Class A: Tenya Iida**

 **Class A : Fumikage Tokoyami**

 **Class A: Eijiro Kirishima**

 **Class A : Hanta Sero**

 **Class B : Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu**

 **Class A : Mashirao Ojiro**

 **Class B : Yosetsu Awase**

 **Class A : Tsuyu Asui**

 **Class A : Mezo Shoji**

 **Class A : Rikido Sado**

 **Class A : Ochaco Uraraka**

 **Class A : Momo Yaoyorozu**

 **Class A : Minoru Mineta**

 **Class A : Mina Ashido**

 **Class A : Koji Koda**

 **Class A : Kyoka Jiro**

 **Class B : Sen Kaibara**

 **Class B : Kosei Tsuburaba**

 **Class A : Denki Kaminari**

The list went on and on until it finally reaches the 42nd student that made it.

"The top 42 students made it through to the next round. It's unfortunate, but don't worry if you didn't make it. We've prepared other chances for you to shine. The real competition begins next, the press cavalry will be all over it! Give it your all!"

Once again she raised her hand with a leather flogger in hand as the screen behind her spun with options for the next part of the event.

"Now then, here is the second game I already know what it is. But what could it be? What could it be? I just said it, and now here it is…" with a flourish, the screen landed on the next battle.

A Cavalry Battle.

"Let me explain. The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing that's different is...based on the results of the last game each person has been assigned a point value.

The point assigned to go up by five starting from the bottom, so 42nd place gets 5 points, 41st gets 10 points! And the point value assigned to first place is...TEN MILLION!"

The fun air shifted immediately as all eyes darted to the person in first place.

"That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!"

Everyone had eyes on Midoriya, glaring and leering at the poor boy in the center of it all.

' _Oof. That's some tough luck you got there Midoriya, everyone is going to be aiming for your head.'_


	13. Roaring Cavalry Battle!

_Hello again all,_

 _I'm back with the start of the cavalry battle, we also get a tiny hint of Izumi's past as well. We're going Team Midoriya! So buckle up for this crazy ride of a tournament arc cause it's going to be intense._

 _I would once again like to thank everyone who has found this story interesting enough to follow. It makes me very happy to know that you all are enjoying yourself with my story._

 _Moon._

 _*Edit: I posted a chapter that was before this one, so I'm sorry if you guys were confused._

 **Chapter 12**

Midoriya had all eyes on him as he was worth ten million points, and it looked like the boy was about to drop dead from a heart attack. On the stage, the R-rated hero Midnight continued to explain the rules of the cavalry battle.

"The time limit is fifteen minutes, each team is worth the total number of its' members' points and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try and grab each other's headband before the time runs out and try to keep as many points as they can.

Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up, so the more you steal the harder it will be to manage them! And the most important thing is that even if your headband gets stolen, or if your team falls you're not out!"

Some of class A were talking amongst themselves about the rules of the competition, making sure that they understand how tough it would be with 12 teams running around trying to take the other's headbands.

"During the game, it'll be a cruel fight where you can use your quirks but it's still a cavalry battle. You will get a red card that for trying to make people fall on purpose and you will be removed immediately!

Now you have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!"

As soon as they were allowed to build their teams all the students starting moved towards the people that they would like to partner up with. Izumi started looking around to see if anyone would be interested in teaming up with her, and she got a few offers - though she didn't give them a straight answer. She really wanted to consider her options before settling on a team she could win with.

Walking around the area she could see that a lot of people were crowding around Bakugo and Todoroki since they were second and third. She could understand why they would be top picks, both boys had strong quirks and they both were very versatile in using them as well. Both had proven themselves to be strong opponents and anyone would want them on their teams if they even had a better chance at winning and making it through to the next round.

But she couldn't stop herself from looking at the small group of people surround Bakugo, she could see that a lot of her classmates wanted to team up with him. They were all asking him and he just stood there in the middle with a stiff posture figuring out what to do. Izumi continued to stare with amused interest wanting to see how it would go down.

"I don't know what quirks you all have! What?!"

After hearing that she burst out laughing at him, "Really Bakugo?! You don't even know your own classmates' quirks. You should really pay attention, you'll end up regretting it."

He snapped his head over to her and his blood red eyes pierced her body as she continued to giggle.

"Shut the hell up ya damn bitch, it ain't any of your business! Now keep on moving, you look like an idiot not having a team!" he hissed at the giggling girl a few feet away from him.

Before she could respond with a snappy comeback a cheerful voice broke through the crowd. Waving his arm in order to get the others' attention.

"Hey! Todoroki chose his team already, Bakugo team up with me!" only Kirishima could be so calm and friendly around the explosive teen. It always amazed Izumi how nothing about Bakugo's behavior could shake Kirishima's friendly demeanor towards him.

"Hey Kirishima, I saw you came in seventh. Nice job." Izumi's voice cut through the conversation in order to greet the friendly redhead.

"Huh? Toshihara? Oh yeah, thanks! Hey, you know what would be great? If you joined up with me and Bakugo here and that way we could get those ten million points!"

"AH?! Listen up Weird Hair, I don't need that bitch on my team!"

"I'm Kirishima! At least try to remember and my hair isn't that different from yours! Besides, you wanna be the rider right? Then who'll be a front horse that can take your blasts?" he ended that sentence with a harden arm.

Bakugo just stared at him with a blank look on his face before answering. "Someone with guts."

"Not really, but yeah! Me, with my Hardening - I'll be a horse that never wavers!"

At that moment it looked like Bakugo finally caught on to what Kirishima was saying to him. Both their eyes connected as the shark-toothed boy leaned in a bit closer, making his case.

"You're gonna get it right? The ten million?"

Red eyes sharpen into a menacing look as his grin was sinister, that look was answer enough and Kirishima got Bakugo on his team.

' _Well damn, those two really have some kind of understanding between them.'_

While Izumi continued to watch the display going on with the two boys, she didn't hear the footsteps coming from behind.

"Well well well, I see that U.A. decided to let you in the hero course. I can't believe they would allow someone like you in, after all, you are dangerous." a smooth sounding voice murmured.

Eyes sliding closed with intense annoyance, more so than any time she spoke with Bakugo - she turned around and crossed her arms over her chest as she once again opened her dark blue eyes.

"Oh Monoma, I see they let you in as well despite your nasty personality. Too bad, I was so sure that they would see through your charade - they really need to work on personality checks." she shot back with wit.

"Tsk tsk, so defensive Toshihara. Is that how you greet an old classmate from middle school."

"Please, you and I have never really liked each other. Don't pretend to play nice with me now you damn faker."

"Sticks and stone Toshihara.."

"Describing your breakfast?"

"Now now, no need to be so hostile - I see that your Class A friends have been affecting your personality. I remember when you used to be more personable before your **incident** , and you don't have Senpai around to help you out. So I would be careful if I were you, can't have your true colors starting to show in front of so many people, hmm?"

Just hearing him mention something from her past made Izumi tense and on edge immediately. Her eyes now glared hard at Monoma's face if looks could kill he would have been rendered to ash. Stepping closer to him and getting right up into his face, she hissed.

"Don't test me Monoma. I'm warning you, you're pushing it."

"Your demon side is showing Toshihara... Remember that name? After your little accident, everyone in middle school called you that. Quite villainous if you ask me." taking a step back from her.

Around the two of them, others started to gather around or stare openly at what was going on. Taking a deep breath and relaxing her muscles Izumi pulled away from Monoma, her face falling into a blank annoyed expression.

"Why are you talking to me Monoma, I highly doubt that you want me on your team. So hurry up and say what you what to say before I decide to leave."

A smirk formed on the blonde's face as started to speak. "Well since you're apart of Class A I thought I should let you know that you're not better than Class B.

Almost everyone here has their eyes on your class, why is that? And like Tetsutetsu said Class A is full of themselves about it...It's strange, isn't it? The only difference between us is that you and your class fought villains.

Why were those of us in Class B with being in the middle of the pack? We're here to let you arrogant Class A know and put you in your place."

Sighing once again she spoke, "We don't think that our class is better than yours, it's just one idiot asshole in our class that thinks he's better than everyone. So stop pushing your insecurities on us, it's immature."

"Of course you would say something like that Toshihara. You were always very prideful about your abilities, now you're just covering it up with fake humble words."

"Monoma, you really need to get over yourself. I'm done talking to you, bye."

Walking away from the irritating blonde she continued her search for a team to join, they only had about 5 minutes left to finish making teams and coming up with a sound strategy. She was starting to worry about who she was going to join, Izumi didn't feel comfortable joining up with a team from another class - her eyes looked around. It seemed that everyone else was having the same idea remaining with who they know.

"U-Um, Toshihara-san? Have you joined a team yet?" a familiar voice piped up from behind her.

"No, not really." turning to face the voice, she smiled as she caught sight of messy green hair and brown eyes staring at her with hope.

"Then, you join our team then? We could really use you and with your quirk being so versatile, I'm sure you'll be a great match with us."

"Of course I would be glad to join you Midoriya, Uraraka. I'm happy to help you keep that ten million on your forehead, I hope you know that Bakugo will be charging hard for you and your points."

"Hehehe, yeah...but don't worry I've got a plan!" his voice confident about his plan.

"Alright then, I trust you enough to help me get into the next round!" she quickly looked around noticing that someone was missing from the group.

"I don't see Iida anywhere…"

"Y-yeah, he joined Todoroki's team." Uraraka cut in with a bit of worry.

That worry was understandable, he knew a lot about their quirks so he could give his team good information on how to counter them. That would be a problem.

"Looks like we got a turncoat on our hands." Izumi laughed a bit, covering up her unease. She never really like others knowing just how much her quirk could do, but she couldn't back out now.

"So what's the plan Midoriya?" looking at him expectantly.

His green eyes were darting around the area looking for something or someone. It seemed like he found what he was looking for because he walked away from the two girls and made his way towards his target.

Before anyone knew it time was up and Midnight once again gathered the attention of the students as she stretched her arms.

"Now then, it's about time to get started! Rise those battle cries, it's time for U.A.'s bloody battle! Light the signal fire!"

Their team was complete with Uraraka in the back right position, Izumi back left, Tokoyami as the front horse and Midoriya as their leader. It was time for the cavalry battle to begin.

"Uraraka-san."

"Yes!"

"Toshihara-san."

"Yup."

"Tokoyami-kun."

"Yeah."

"I'm counting on you!"

The cheering and roaring from the people in the stands were almost deafening as the battle was about to begin. All twelve teams were ready and standing in position just outside the field where the cavalry was going to take place. The countdown had begun and everyone had their game faces on, Izumi rolled her shoulder and cracked her neck loosening up her muscles ready for everyone else to strike at them as soon as the buzzer went off.

And boy was she right about that, in an instant almost every single team was running straight at them - hoping to grab those ten million points off of Midoriya's head.

"An attack without delay, huh...The fate of the pursued...Make your choice Midoriya!"

"Of course, our move is to run away!"

But before they could even make a move to run, the ground was suddenly soft and their feet were sinking into it.

"It's no good...I can't get out!" Uraraka was struggling to move her feet without success.

"Leave it to me!" Izumi acted quickly, calling the shadows of the other teams towards her and drawing them into her own - she made a pillar pushing them towards the sky. Luckily since she had so many shadows condensed inside her own it was going much more quickly than it normally would.

The softened ground was left behind as she called her shadows forth and making a pathway in the air above the other teams. She needed to focus on keeping the path stable and out of reach to the others chasing them. Tokoyami blocked an attack from Jiro with his dark shadow.

"Good! Dark Shadow, keep watch over our blind spots!"

"Got it!"

They kept moving forward on the appearing path before them, Izumi making sure that the platforms behind her returned in order to make more.

"Toshihara-san, you're really good at thinking on your feet. And with Tokoyami covering you with omnidirectional mid-range defense! You two make a pretty great team since your quirks synergize very well together. You both are amazing!"

"Aw Midoriya, thank you for the flattery. I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside." Izumi laughed a bit, it really was nice for others to thank her for her efforts.

"You're the one who chose me." Tokoyami spoke up.

"Get ready we're about to jump off these!" Izumi informed. Uraraka reached out to touch Tokoyami and Izumi, making them weightless so landing back to the ground wouldn't waste any energy. Finally, their feet had hit the ground and the continued running away from the other teams that were chasing them from further behind.

From behind they could hear laughing and Midoriya turned to see that Shoji was sprinting towards them. His arms were covering something on his back.

"Fighting? No, this is...a one-sided pillage!"

"Shoji-kun?! What? By himself, but it's a team battle!"

Tokoyami seeing that there was another team coming right for them, he called out that it would be best to put some distance between them and the rest.

"We can't get caught standing against multiple opponents!"

Realising he was right Izumi made her way to move with the team, but she couldn't for some reason.

"Uuh, that's not good."

"What's wrong Toshihara-san?"

"My shoes are stuck on something!"

Looking down at her feet she could see that something purple was keeping them stuck to the ground. Izuku looked around to see where it came from, a voice called out to him.

"From here Midoriya…"

Mineta was on top of Shoji's back, hidden away underneath the tentacles. He moved away before something pink shot out at the freckled-faced boy trying to take his headband away from him. Luckily the boy dodged in time.

"I didn't expect any less from you, Midoriya-chan."

Seemed like Tsuyu was also hitching a ride on her teammates back, a torrent of purple balls and froggy tongue continued to fly out at the poor boy. He kept on dodged like his life depended on it, Izumi having enough of being trapped called her shadows again and cut her feet free from her shoes, unfortunately, she shredded her socks as well.

' _Great, I'm gonna be running around barefoot, ugh this sucks. I liked those shoes…Mineta's gonna pay for their sacrifice.'_

"We're getting out of here guys!" not wasting any time at all, she used her shadows to once again make a pathway towards the sky - leaving the barrage of attacks behind.

"Hey Toshihara-chan, are you sure you're going to be alright without your shoes?" Uraraka voicing concern about her friend.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. My feet are tougher than they look so don't worry about it. What need to focus on is THAT!" she drew everyone's attention to a speeding dusty blonde flying towards them.

"Don't get carried away! Damn it!" Bakugo was in front of them in a flash making a grab from the ten million headband.

Izumi just reacted as she called forth a shadow barrier to block the explosion attack, then she swept her hand to the side pushing the raging teen away from them. His red eyes snapped to her face and she flashed him a smirk.

"Damn it! You bitch!" he continued to fall, but he was caught and pulled back to his team safely.

Team Midoriya finally landed again thanks to Uraraka and they continued their escape. Izumi spoke up letting them know the situation, "Guys, listen. The light from that attack kinda weakened my shadows so we need to be careful from now on. There's only so much I could do in the sun."

After hearing that Izuku started to think about another way to keep themselves away from the other teams. Seven minutes, they just needed to last for seven more minutes. They continued to move, avoiding everyone who seemed to give up on chasing them since they figured they would just move back up into the air.

"Everyone, it'll be easier to run aw-"

The sound of something skidding to a stop caught their attention and they were once again cut off from running. Looking to see who was blocking their path, Izumi could tell that this wasn't going to be a team they could just shake off like the others. Standing in front of them, blocking their way was Team Todoroki.

"So it won't be that easy, huh?"

' _Oh..this isn't good.'_

Light blue and grey eyes stared coldly at Midoriya.

"I'll be taking that now."


	14. The Fight for Ten Million!

_Hey,_

 _This arc, the fighting chapters are long! I find myself exhausted after writing multiples of them for hours, so I'm thinking of cutting some out...I'm conflicted about doing that though. Please tell me your thoughts on that, I pretty much already written chapter 14 - it's done, the 15th chapter could have Bakugo vs Uraraka in it if you guys want it in there._

 _Also I'm giving you a heads up, Izumi and Bakugo WILL BE FACING OFF! I just don't know when would be the right time to insert that in. I've planned this for awhile now and it will be a great fight, but it might take a lot out of me since it could be another long chapter._

 _Thanks again,_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 13**

Team Todoroki was blocking their path to escape, but they refused to move one inch - let alone give them the opportunity to slip away.

"I thought we wouldn't have this confrontation until later in this contest. He seems to think highly of you Midoriya." and Izumi had to agree with Tokoyami's thoughts about the dual-haired teen in front of them.

"Only half the time is left, don't stop moving!" Midoriya was ready to face off against his opponent. But Todoroki had other ideas about that, he urged Iida to move after them while he seemed to have a plan in the works.

Sadly, it wasn't just them that was running at their team, looked like more five teams charging. However, Team Todoroki were the only ones willing to remove the rest of the competition, with some kind of blanket covering the three team members leaving only Kaminari open. He let off his most powerful attack, Dark Shadow and Izumi moved to guard against the attack - but unfortunately the bright light from the electric attack meant that they couldn't really do much.

All the other teams surrounding them were shocked by the attack leaving them immobilized. Throwing off the blanket that was covering the remaining teammates Todoroki was preparing his own way of keeping the other teams from touching his quarry. Freezing the ground in ice which froze the other teams' feet keeping them from moving anymore. And in another single move, he stole the surrounding teams headbands and was carried away after Izuku and his ten million points.

Team Midoriya kept their distance from Team Todoroki as best they could, but they were catching up pretty quickly.

"I'll try and restrain them!" Tokoyami sent his Dark Shadow after them but the attack was blocked by Yaoyorozu and one of her creations coming out of her arm.

"Yaoyorozu-san's creations are hard to deal with."

"No, Kaminari is worse, with that level of armor, if it had been sunlight Dark Shadow would have been ripped apart."

"Tokoyami is right, even my own shadows can't handle something like that - they would need to be extremely condensed in order to survive keep in place. This team is very well-rounded and that's going to be a pain in the ass for us to deal with." Izumi commented on the conversation at hand.

' _Damn, this is something I really didn't want to deal with.'_

Before the cavalry battle started Midoriya let them know their game plan, he told Tokoyami that he didn't need to focus on attacking only. It was impressive that the green-haired teen was able to notice something like that with Tokoyami's quirk - that's how they got him on their team.

"I see...Kamnari's lighting…"

"As long as he keeps discharging electricity, attacking would be difficult. Dark Shadow will become timid." and it was true, the shadow creature looked a bit less fierce than usual.

"I'm against violence…"

"Aww Dark Shadow, it's going to be okay." Izumi couldn't help but comfort the poor being.

The team came to a sudden stop, they reach the limit of the battlefield trapping them with Todoroki who had surrounded them with an ice wall.

"Decreased offense...They don't know that, do they?"

"I don't believe so, the only person I've told about this weakness to is Koda, at USJ and he is a man of few words."

"If they don't know about it, then we can use it to hold them back. It's fine. No matter what, we will hang on to the ten million points!"

"Damn right will we will!"

There was only a minute left before the cavalry battle would come to an end. Luckily, they have been able to keep the other team at a distance but, with time becoming shorter and shorter they're attacks have been becoming more intense. Team Midoriya had been able to keep them away for five minutes but it was now becoming more stressful. They had been maintaining distance and staying on the left side, but everyone was starting to tire out with all the moving they had been doing. Izumi's feet were also beginning to hurt as well with all the skidding and quick dodging that they had to do.

' _I just need to hang in there, just a bit longer. This pain is nothing if I want to make it to the next round - just push past the pain.'_

Something caught her attention, Iida. He was doing something, as if getting ready to brace himself or something of the like. He was leaning forward and his leg engines were whirling with activity, blue fire was starting to shoot out from his legs.

"Guys! Iida is doing something! GET READY!"

Team Todoroki blasted towards them at great speeds, Izuku wasn't able to even get a word out of his mouth before his headband was ripped off his forehead in an instant. It happened that fast, they were in shock.

"JESUS! What the hell was that?!"

From the other side of the of the closed off field Iida looked winded and was panting with exhaustion while his team looked at him with awe and amazement. Black clouds of smoke was all the remained of his trump card.

"I told you didn't I Midoriya-kun, that I'd challenge you." the smirk of triumph on his face.

"Get back in there!"

"As long as they have Kaminari, we'll be at a disadvantage if we attack! Wouldn't it be safer is we went for some other teams points?" Uraraka was nodding in agreement with Tokoyami's question seeing the sense in it.

"No! I don't know how the other points got split up! This is our only chance!" desperation was in the air for Team Midoriya, but they charged forward wanting to get their ten million back.

"We'll get it back, Deku-kun! We definitely will!" Uraraka was giving reassurance to their leader while her face was etched with fierce determination.

Every single member of the team had dreams and goals to accomplish, they weren't going to take losing laying down - they weren't going to just give up when the outcome looked dark. They got close to Team Todoroki, the air they were giving off was intense causing the dual-haired leader to do something he had never done before, his left..his left arm was covered in flames as Midoriya made his move to get his ten million points back.

Izuku was a bit hesitant to use his quirk since it would be the first time he would be using it on a person, but he wasn't planning on attack. His hand fanned away the flames that were keeping them at bay with a single swipe through the air, knocking Todoroki's arm back a bit from the force of it. While his opponent was stunned he reached the top headband that was around his neck, successfully ripping it off of him. He cried out in victory having gotten back the points that were stolen away from him.

"Hold it! Isn't this the wrong headband?" Izumi pointed out.

Looking down at the headband in his hand, his eyes widened in disbelief at his error - only seventy point for what was in his trembling hand.

"Just in case, we changed the positions of the headbands! You were naive, Midoriya-san!" Yaoyorozu informed them, and they looked at the other team in shock after that piece of information.

' _What kind of idiot tells their enemy about the plan they hatched! They must think that we don't have enough time to make up the points to beat them! Those...that kind of overconfident boasting and looking down on people is something I wouldn't STAND FOR!'_

The other members of Team Todoroki were trying to bring their leader back to reality as he was still shocked by what happened.

There were only 10 seconds left and the clock was counting down the to end of the cavalry battle. Seventy points weren't good enough for them to make it through to the next round, and Midoriya knew that he called Tokoyami into action.

' _I'm not going to lose just cause we don't have enough points! That's bullshit and I'm not going to get it laying down!'_

Izumi was quick on the draw as she forced her shadows to surround Dark Shadow in a protective layer of her own quirk. The other team was ready for them though as Kaminari once again used his electricity to force the attack away from them. From the other side of the ice wall Bakugo finally broken through to the other side and was soaring in the air - his aim was for Midoriya.

"Damn Deku!"

The electric attack done and over with Izuku called out to Uraraka and she understood immediately. They all charged forward at Todoroki, they were in desperate to get enough points to make it.

With Iida out of commission, their leader turned to Yaoyorozu would go to work creating a staff for Todoroki to fend off any attacks that would come their way.

Bakugo, noticing that the two teams were facing off wondered where the ten million points were. He saw that Izuku was reaching for the other team and he changed his direction towards the defending team.

"Half and half Bastard!"

The staff that Todoroki was holding was now covered in ice, prepared to defend and stop anything. The three leaders were ready to make their final move but before it could come to pass, time was up. Bakugo face planted into the ground upon hearing those words and the crowd was roaring and the intensity of the fight.

Frustration ran through both Midoriya and Izumi had hearing that time was up as well, the boy's eyes closed and fist clenched as he couldn't believe that he didn't make it in time. While Izumi's face was twisted into a hard scowl as she bit her bottom lip in anger at it all.

Bakugo's team ran forward to their fallen leader, who had yet to move his face from the ground. Asking if he was okay with their only response was the spiky blonde's fist slamming into the ground in anger and frustration that he couldn't get the ten million.

The placement of the teams were being announced to the stadium with first place going to Team Todoroki. In second place was Team Bakugo and a cry of rage could be heard, no doubt of the team leader. Third place was given to Team Shinso, who had a come from behind victory - no one expected that outcome at all.

Uraraka approached her friends who were brooding in the back. "Deku-kun. Toshihara-chan."

"Um...I'm really sorry…"

Looking confused at first, the brunette draws their attention to Tokoyami who was standing calmly behind her with his eyes closed.

"Todoroki was clearly shaken by your first attack, and with Toshihara's help with protecting Dark Shadow against Kaminari's attack I had hoped to get the ten million back. But things don't always go as you wish, even so I got one. I took the one on his head where his guard was the weakest. This was thanks to both of you with the defense and last spurt from you."

There, in Dark Shadow's mouth was a headband. A headband that was worth 615 points! Meaning that they were in fourth place!

In a surge of emotion both team members let out a cry, one of joy with a waterfall of tears. The other a joyous hug to both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, who was crushed in the grip of a bear hug from Izumi. Even Uraraka joined in with some gentle pat to Dark Shadow's head as they all watched Midoriya cry tears of intense relief and joy. They were advancing to the final round!

With all that said and done, it was time for a much needed break for lunch. Everyone from Class A gathered once again from their lunch break, Uraraka was talking to Iida about his secret move that he used against them. Izumi was just glad that she could finally able to make it through the final round, that and the chance to get some new shoes. And speaking of which…

"Mineta.." she came upon the small pervert of the class.

"Huh? Oh Toshihara-chan! My lady of Shadows how are you? Were you impressed with my skills?" he had no idea what was going to happen.

"My shoes Mineta…"

"Huh?"

"The shoes that I had to shred to pieces since your nasty kept them stuck on the ground. How are you going to make it up to me?" her voice was cold and menacing as her navy eyes leered down on the tiny boy.

"W-what are you…" his voice was shaking with fear.

"I had to ran that whole cavalry battle in my bare feet, thanks to you're going to repay me. Let's continue our talk over there...in the shadows…" her quirk wrapped around the trembling boy before he could even think about trying to outrun her. And he was dragged off where Izumi would let him know just how to repay her.

The other students in the class looked on in slight horror, some of them even kinda felt bad for the guy. But they didn't even make a move to try and help him.

"H-Hehehe, Toshihara-chan is really upset about her shoes, huh?" Uraraka let out a nervous laugh as she watched the two turn into a dark hallway where they were out of view.

"Well she **did** fight barefoot and all, I would be angry too if I had to do what she did. And it seemed like she really loved those sneakers too." Kirishima piping up for the side.

The sounds of pained screams could be heard from the small group of Class A that were still gathered by the exit. They spotted Mineta trying to crawl away from the darkened hall but he was pulled back in by more shadows that wrapped around his mouth to stop him from crying out for help.

The rest of the classmates shuddered to think what was happening to the poor boy.

"H-Hey, let's go and get some lunch, yeah?"

Nodding in agreement they left Mineta to his fate.


	15. Tournament Start!

_Hi,_

 _This chapter will contain most of the first matches of the tournament round, so be prepared for some light action scenes. I'm very excited to move past this chapter and get into the juicy fighting parts._

 _Also, I'm been itching to start some of our romance, so I'm going to start advancing the relationship between the two pretty soon. I'm sure you'll all very happy about that, I know where I should begin but I just don't know which chapter it will be in. But I'll definitely let you all know in the AN before starting the chapter, don't worry!_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 14**

The break for lunch was over pretty quickly and it was once again time to go back to the sports festival, people who didn't make it to the final were able to take part in recreational games. On the side, there were cheerleaders who flew in all the way from America doing their routines and shaking pom poms in hand.

On the other side of the official cheerleaders where the girls from Class 1-A in revealing cheer uniforms, trying to cover themselves in embarrassment from having to wear those things. Izumi was thankful for not being in those outfits, it seemed that most of the girls were tricked into the current situation. And she had a pretty good idea who it was - Mineta, who after their little talk, refused to go near her for a while.

The 1-A cheerleaders looked completely mortified, faces blank and bodies rigid. Just a small distance away Kaminari and Mineta were giving each other the thumbs up, happy their plan actually worked out in their favor.

"Mineta-san! Kaminari-san! You tricked us, didn't you?!" Yaoyorozu screaming at them as she shook her pom-pom at them in anger. She then fell to her knees in despair lamenting her situation.

"Why am I always caught in Mineta-san's schemes? I even used Creation to make these outfits…" Uraraka came over to the distressed girl and rubbed her back in comfort.

Slamming her own pom poms to the ground in frustration Jiro commented on how dumb those two were, then she caught sight of Izumi, who was standing against the wall looking at the Americans doing their way.

"Hey, Toshihara! How come you're not in one of these stupid things!?"

"Cause Mineta didn't dare come near me! Isn't that right, Mineta?" her voice turned sickly sweet when she put her attention on the purple boy.

He shivered as he nodded frantically and Izumi smiled before turning towards the rest of the girls and walked closer.

"You know, you guys should take everything Mineta says with a grain of salt. That way, you could just skip to the hitting."

"Hmm, that is a pretty good thing to do. Thank Toshihara for the tip!"

"No problem Jiro."

The sounds of pom poms being shaken hard broke through the conversation, Hagakure was swinging her hips from side to side - in what looked to be excitement.

"Well, there's time before the finals and it'd be a pain if things got tense. It's fine! Let's do it!" she sounded really happy and excited.

"Toru-chan, you like this, huh?" Asui commented on the girl's energy.

It seemed that the recreational games were just about to start, but there was a huge board showing brackets for the final round. The sixteen people that made it through the cavalry battle would be fighting in one on one battles, which Izumi was really excited for.

The final sixteen gathered in view of the screen waiting to see who was going to be fighting each other for the first match.

Midnight lifted a bright yellow box and showing everyone that they would be drawing lots in order to determine the bracket. She continued by saying that afterward, the recreational games would begin, the people in the finals could choose to join or not. Izumi already knew that she wasn't going to be taking part in the fun games. She needed to save her energy for the fights ahead, but she could watch the others have some fun. Just before she could start going around and allowing the students to pick - a raised hand stopped her.

"Umm…! Excuse me." all eyes turned to Ojiro. His face looked ashamed and in pain at what he was about to do.

"I'm withdrawing."

Gasps could be heard from the students around him and other started to whisper what was going through his mind to pass up something like this. Immediately, Izuku asked him why he was pulling himself from the round - while Iida agreed saying that he would miss his chance to show the pro-heroes his skills.

"I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the end. I think it's that guy's quirk. I know that this is a great chance and that it's foolish to waste it...But- Everyone here competed by giving it their all! I can't...I can't be up there with everyone without knowing what really happened."

Other members of Class A were trying to reassure Ojiro that he should still take the chance and just be sure to give results in the one on one battles. He looked completely defeated as he body shook before he covered his face with his hand.

"That's not it...I'm talking about my pride here...I can't...Also, why are you guys wearing cheerleading outfits?"

Another student from Class B who was on the same team as Ojiro stepped up and did the same thing for the same reason as well.

It was up to Midnight to make the final decision with the two students.

"Youthful talk like that is something...I like! Shoda! Ojiro! I accept your withdrawal! In that case, we'll have to move up two people from the fifth place cavalry battle team…"

"If that's what's going to happen, then rather than us, who barely did anything during the cavalry battle, it should be them, right? Ones who fought to the end and stayed in the top, Team Tetsutetsu, right?"

The mentioned team looked shocked by fifth places suggestion that two people from their team should be the ones to be moved up.

"And so, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki have moved up to make sixteen! This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"

The bottom of the screens revealed the names of the students and who would be facing off against who.

 **Tetsutetsu vs Kirishima**

 **Yaoyorozu vs Tokoyami**

 **Ashido vs Toshihara**

 **Shinso vs Midoriya**

 **Todoroki vs Sero**

 **Bakugo vs Uraraka**

 **Kaminari vs Shiozaki**

 **Iida vs Hatsume**

With that finally out of the way the students who wanted to participate in the recreational games remained on the field, while everyone else moved off and went to sit in the stands to watch. Fireworks boomed in the sky as everyone cheered for the students, the girls who got roped into wearing cheer outfits stayed to root for their classmates who were playing.

Izumi went to find a quiet place and listened to some music to pump herself up. She needed to re-focus her mind into her goal, there was no more playtime with friends - now was the time to show no mercy. If she was going to prove to her mother, who was watching, that she was good enough to become a pro-hero she would need to be serious.

Time seemed to have flown by as it was already time for the tournament to begin, the people in the stands cheered, screamed and roared with excitement for what was about to happen. All the students from Class 1-A sat together to watch the battles unfold, Izumi went to sit in the back corner sit - not wanting her music to bother anyone else. Also for quick access to leave should she need to go the bathroom or when it was her turn next.

She sat down with a plop and placed her feet on the back of the seat in front of her as she knocked in her own. She had her eyes closed for a bit as she heard some of her classmates greeting her, letting out a small 'hey' before cranking up the volume and continuing to get lost in her tunes. A few moments later she felt someone bump into her propped up legs, her eyes opened to see who it was, none other than Bakugo.

She could see his mouth was moving, but she had her volume on loud that it canceled most sounds. Not really wanting to talk to anyone, let alone deal with the raging ashen blonde - she moved her feet of their resting post and let him pass by in order to get to the seat he wanted.

Looked like the first match was about to begin as people started to cheer even louder and stand from their seats. Midoriya versus Shinso, Izumi hoped that her friend would make it past his opponent his round. She could tell from the look on his face that he was nervous about fighting against someone else, let alone in front of thousands, if not millions of people.

"Oh, it's that guy from before.."

"Did you say something Toshihara-san?"

"Oh nothing, I was just saying that it was that guy from before. Remember the one who declared war on us two weeks ago, that's who Midoriya's facing right now."

"W-What! No way!"

"No it's true, she's right! Oh, this doesn't look good for Deku-kun."

They all continued to watch intensely at what was happening on the arena, it looked like Shinso was saying something to Midoriya. Something that made him angry enough to start charging towards the teen who was standing completely still. And as suddenly as the charge began, it stopped.

"I went through the trouble of warning him too!" Ojiro stood up from his seat with his hands on his head in disbelief at what was happening. Everyone turned to look at the tailed boy in confusion and curiosity, wondering what he was talking about.

They didn't get a chance to have their questions answered, Izuku had turned around and started to walk towards the outer bounds of the arena.

"Deku-kun, why?!" Uraraka had her hands clutched to her chest as she looked on shocked at what the boy was doing.

She wasn't the only one who was voicing their concerns, Iida was rigidly moving his arms around.

"If you go out of bounds, then you'll lose the match!"

Izumi just watched what was happening, she didn't hear her music that was blaring in her ears - all of her attention was on the head of green hair walking to the edge of the platform. She really didn't want to see her friend lose in this way, he worked intensely hard just to make it to where he was. Still she sat with bated breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

He kept on walking as if he was in a trance of some kind, his friends shouting out hoping to get his attention, hoping to make him stop from crossing the threshold - but he couldn't hear them. About to reach the edge and walk out of the arena, something kicked the air around him causing a shockwave powerful enough that everyone near the two students could feel it. A cloud of dust surrounded the field and as it cleared everyone could see that Midoriya had yet to cross over the boundary. A huge feeling of relief passed through his classmates as the crowd cried out their approval - Iida shouted his name with happiness that he was finally able to stop himself.

His indigo haired opponent wasn't pleased that he had overcome his brainwashing, he shouted something that Izuku in anger. Having remembered what Ojiro told him, he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth to keep from saying anything. Once again, Shinso shouted, and again he got no answer.

Midoriya turned to face the shouting teen across from him, he started to run towards him while holding his hand that had been injured from using his quirk to stop himself. All the while ignoring the questions that were being desperately shot out at him - goading him into giving an answer, to speak. Reaching his target, Izuku grabbing the boy and started pushing him out of bounds, enraged at what was happening Shinso punched him in the face trying to get him to speak to no avail.

Shaking off the punch, his nose bleeding from the impact the determined green eyed boy kept pushing his opponent. He even took a sucker punch to his wounded fingers before he was thrown away getting some distance away from each other. Shinso went to grab Midoriya wanted to turn the tables on him but it was not use, it was over for him in an instance as he was flipped over the other's shoulder and was smacked down hard on the ground - out of bounds.

There was not a sound as everyone had their mouths opened in shock at the turnaround that just taken place.

"Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to round two!"

And the sounds of cheering overtook the stadium again.

Midoriya was panting as he continued to look down at Shinso.

"In the finals, the first person to advance to the second round is Izuku Midoriya from Class A!"

A sigh of relief came out of Uraraka. "I was so nervous!"

"Turning the tables at the last moment, as expected of Midoriya-kun!"

"He did that shoulder toss on you before too, didn't he?" Kaminari turning to Bakugo, expressing his excitement from the match he just watched.

"Shut up, Dunce Face."

With the first match over, it was time for the second match to begin which would be Sero versus Todoroki. Having come from the nurse's office Izuku joined his classmates in their seating area to watch the next matchup.

"Oh, Deku-kun! Good work!" Uraraka smiled brightly as she waved him over to sit with her and Iida.

Fire spewed from the corners of the arena meaning that the next round was about to begin, Sero was already standing on one side limbering up his arms with a confident stance. While on the other side standing still with his white and red hair covering his face was Todoroki, the introductions out of the way the match started and in a flash Sero launched his tape at his classmate - wrapping around his body keeping him from moving.

Not wasting a moment of time Sero swung his arm, that was still holding onto some tape that captured Todoroki, wanting to throw the teen out of the arena. There wasn't even a second before ice coated the floor of the field and encasing Sero in a gigantic spiked wall of ice that covered an entire side of the stadium.

"Holy shit…" navy blue eyes widened at the display of power.

"Sero-kun, can you move?" Midnight, who was half covered in ice, stood strong but was shivering from all the cold.

"O-Of course not…Ow…"

"Sero-kun is immobilized! Todoroki advances to the second round!"

The crowd in the stadium was silent until a timid shout traveled through the air.

"Don't worry about it!"

"Don't worry about it!"

"Don't worry about it!"

The chant moved over the stands like a wave and they were all directed at Sero, who was still frozen in ice.

"Ouch, that was over in a second. Poor Sero-kun…" Mina just saddened for her friend, not having able to show his quirk off much.

"Yeah, but he was up against the best in the class."

"Hey, no need to bash him!"

Placing his left hand on Sero, Todoroki started to thaw him out of his icy prison as well as getting rid of the rest of the ice that covered the side of the stadium.

With the long wait over it was time for the next match up to begin which was Kaminari versus Shiozaki. Present Mic announced the to two students as they walked up to the stage, ready to face each other - however just as the fight was about to begin Shiozaki paused for a moment to speak.

"Um...Please excuse the interruption. What do you mean by 'assassin'? I have only come to find victory, not take my opponent's life."

After hearing those words, Present Mic quickly withdrew his previous comments about the girl and apologized.

"In the first place, I wished to enter U.A. High School not for wicked reasons, but for the salvation of others…" as she continued it looked like the sun chose to spotlight her in glowing rays, making her look angelic.

' _She's so pure…'_

Izumi couldn't help but root for the girl now after hearing her speech, someone like that would totally get more cheers that Kaminari. She really had a soft spot for genuine kind people, it made her heart fill with warm fuzzies.

After Shiozaki returned to the center of the stage the match was underway, and Kaminari was wasting no time in getting it started. Electrical energy crackled around him as it gathered more and more strength, seemed like he was going to unleash all of his power at once. The electricity traveled towards the vine haired girl, who simply turned around, clasped her hands together as if in prayer and her vines created a shield in front of her. That wasn't the only thing she did, the ground was breaking apart towards the boy and vines wrapped around him and lifted his body in the air - keeping him immobilized.

"Shiozaki-san advances to the second round!"

Everyone in Class A pretty much just shook their heads at just how quick that was.

"Man…"

"What's that? Didn't he say he'd settle this in a second? That's strange, he was defeated in a second, wasn't he? Class A is supposed to be better than Class B, so isn't that weird?"

His face twisted in a overly smug and manic way Monoma was clinging to the wall that separated Class A and B. Having heard enough of his voice and looking at his disgusting face he was making Izumi decided that she would be the one to handle it. Lifting her hand and condensing her shadows into a small ball, she whipped it at his face - knocking him down from his perch and landing on his back with a bang.

Coming over to the side and popping her head to look that them with apologetic teal eyes, the girl with orange hair in a side ponytail that seemed to be the only one in their class that could reign him in.

"Sorry!"

She went about carrying him away but he wasn't going to go silently, they could hear a bit of a struggle.

"I know that was you Toshihara! You can't hold back your violent tendencies can't you, how villainous!"

Class A just sweatdropped at the display and turned their heads towards Izumi, who looked very relaxed and happy. Cutting through the somewhat awkward moment, the sound of muttering could be heard, and everyone was a bit unsettled by it. There was only one person to do that and he was completely oblivious to his actions, Midoriya continued to scribble down everything he was saying in his notebook for future reference. Uraraka was able to snap him out of this musings and spoke with him.

The fourth battle was starting and it looked like it was Iida's turn to face his opponent, who was the only support student who made it through to the finals. What surprised everyone was what he was putting on. There seemed to be a problem going on with what Iida was doing with the support item he was wearing.

"That's generally against the rules for those in the hero course. Those who must who equipment needed to petition beforehand."

Shocked at hearing that, Iida quickly explained himself to Midnight.

"I forgot about that! Hatsume-san is wearing her items so I thought it was fine!"

"She submitted a petition."

"I humbly apologize! However, my heart was moved by my opponent's sportsmanship. Even though she's from the support course, she said she wanted an even match since she made it this far. She said she wanted to fight fairly. So she gave me this equipment! I did not think I could ignore her fighting spirit!"

"Oh, youth! I'll allow it!" Midnight looked as if she was spurred by Iida's words.

With permission from both parties and Midnight, the match was allowed to begin, and Iida was running straight towards the pink haired girl.

"Isn't that acceleration wonderful, Iida-san?"

Everyone looked around confused, was she wearing a mic and speakers? What was going on?

"Don't your legs feel lighter than usual? That's only to be expected! Those leg parts are helping the wearer's movements along!"

Just as he was about to reach her, was pushed up into the air by the thing on her back - the poles which lifted her up caused Iida to trip over himself, but he was able to catch his balance again.

"I can evade easily with my hydraulic attachments! I can even deal with attacked from behind!"

It seemed like this match would be nothing but a showcase for Hatsume's support items, and poor Iida was roped into helping her show them off. No one could believe what was happening in front of their eyes, but she continued selling her machines like it was the most natural thing on the planet. Dodging Iida's every move to catch her, and possibly stop the humiliating display from continuing further.

Ten minutes passed as she displayed all the items she had made and their functions to the crowd. And everyone was exhausted from the sheer amount of them all, how did she ever keep them all on her person they'll never know. After her work was done she stepped out of bounds and wiped the sweat off her forehead having done what she wanted to do.

"H-Hatsume-san is out of bounds. Iida advances to the second round!"

Poor Iida had been tricked and he wasn't happy about it one bit, he expressed his hatred for the girl. Nobody could blame him either, he had to put up with that for ten whole minutes - he must have thought he looked like a fool.

"Hey, Toshihara!"

Looking to see who called her, she spotted an arm waving to get her attention.

"Oh hey, Kirishima, what's up?"

"Isn't it your turn next, you're up against Ashido right?"

"It is?" she had lost track of who was going to fight next, looking around to see if Mina was still sitting in her seat - but she wasn't there. Bolting upright, she quickly moved to take off her headphones which were hanging around her neck at this point and made her way down to the stage.

"Thanks, Kirishima, you're awesome!" and with that said she was gone.

"Hehe, you heard that Bakugo. Toshihara thinks I'm awesome." he teased his friend who was sitting a few seats behind.

"Shut the hell up, Shitty Hair!" red eyes glaring at the shark-toothed boy who was grinning up a storm.

The fifth round was getting started soon and everyone was energized to see the battle that was about to take place.

"We're going to keep right on going with the fifth match! From the hero course, The Mistress of Shadows, Izumi Toshihara!" The raven-haired girl stood firm as she was ready to face off against her classmate.

"Versus- Is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the hero course, it's Mina Ashido!" The pink skinned girl was stretching her muscles out, warming her body up for the fight.

"My first match is going to be a piece of cake!" Mina snickered as she pointed at her opponent standing across the way from her.

"I don't think that it's going to be as easy as you think." a small smile coming Izumi's face as she stares Mina down.

"Fifth match, START!"

And they were off, Mina wasting no time attacking - throwing her acid at Izumi who dodged out of the way. Sending a shadowy tendril at the hyper girl hoping to catch her getting jumped over before she landed on her feet and started to skate around the arena, her acid coming out of her feet helping her.

"Since we were on the same combat team for training, I know all about your quirk!" Mina smirking with confidence with her knowledge of her opponent.

"You don't know the half of it…" knowing that she would be hard to catch with her constantly moving around, Izumi knew her best chance was to stop her from moving even for a moment so she could strike.

Her shadows expanded at her feet before they started to gather in the air creating six bubbles and sending them off to pursue their target. Their movements were quick and well controlled, changing directions on a dime in order to keep up with the slippery girl who continued to maneuver her way all over the field.

"Toshihara isn't letting her opponent rest even for a moment, she is constantly sending her shadows to attack Ashido!"

The stadium cheered loudly as the development of the match, they hoped that this battle would last a bit longer than the other. And didn't turn into an advertisement of some kind - as they remembered from the last round.

"H-Huh?! W-What's going on?! Toshihara had disappeared from the field?! She doesn't have an invisibility quirk too, does she?!" and it was the truth, Izumi had vanished from sight and nobody knew where she went.

"W-Where did she go? Her balls are still attacking!" Mina was rightly confused at what was going on.

Sliding to the side of the field in order to dodge another shadow bubble before noticing that she was cornered from all sides with nowhere else to go. Well if she couldn't go around, she would go through. One was coming at her quick, she threw her acid at it and the shadow and charged forward to break through, it started to disintegrate revealing Izumi inside the ball just waiting for her.

"Hi~" her arm cocked back with her fist clenched as it connected with Mina's cheek sending the girl sliding back. The acid on her feet preventing her from coming to a stop before getting knocked out of bounds.

"With a surprise attack, Toshihara has pushed Ashido out of the arena! But how did she get inside one of her own bubbles!?"

A dull muffled voice cut through the shocked commentating to explain.

"Toshihara knew that it would be hard to pin her enemy down where her constant movement and agility, so she thought about stopping her from skating around. She sent out a diversion, her shadows, to attack Ashido and keep her distracted from her real intention.

She must have shifted into her shadow form and stealthily made her way over to one of her awaiting balls and jumped in, waiting and knowing that when she cornered her opponent they would try to break through. She took into account that Ashido also had acid helping her glide around and used in her planning."

Stepping out from her hiding place, Izumi turned and walked away feeling happy that she had won. But she knew that it was only the beginning, she couldn't let herself get caught up in the feeling of victory - that could lead to overconfidence and her losing at that rate. She went and made her way to the waiting room, wanting some peace and quiet from all the people and the cheering, she wanted to be at the top of her game.

"Toshihara-san advances to the second round!"


	16. Versus

_Hello all,_

 _For this chapter I've decided to skip the Bakugo vs Uraraka and some of Todoroki vs Midoriya fights since there pretty much a whole episode dedicated to it. Also I'm pretty sure everyone who has read and/or watched the anime knows what happened, so I feel it would be a bit redundant to type it up here._

 _Recently, I found something AMAZING! Did you know...that there is a My Hero Academia radio show with the Japanese voice actors for Midoriya and Todoroki as hosts?! I just found this out the other day and there's a youtube channel that translates small clips of the show! Oh my god, they are so cute and adorable and precious - it's very funny too, I find myself laughing so hard at some of their conversations._

 _Here's the link to the youtube channel for any interested:_ _www .youtube channel /UCZ PPjUrn3xl1PR1vs5WEbhA_ _(BNHA Radio All Might Nippon)_

 _Plus, I've finally found someone reliable to do a commission of Izumi Toshihara! So I'll be giving updates on that whenever I can, I'm so happy I finally get to see my vision become reality! When it's done, I'll post it in a chapter. OH HAPPY DAY!_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 15**

Making her way to the waiting room called the shadows inside the stadium to her, it would be good to have extra power just in case she had to fight someone that was stronger than her. Someone like Todoroki, a match like that would be amazing but, she knew it would be no contest - as much as she didn't want to admit it. It would take some time and some concentration, which meant Izumi would need a quiet place to gather them. Finally reaching the waiting room, opening the door she saw Uraraka sitting at a table alone with her head downcast.

Taking a few steps she reached out to her friend checking to see if she was alright.

"Hey, Uraraka? You okay, is everything okay?"

The brunette quickly lifted her head and turned towards the voice that was calling her attention. Nervous brown eyes wobbled as Uraraka looked back at Izumi's navy blue.

"O-Oh Toshihara-chan! I-I didn't know that you came in here, my brain is a little frazzled right now. Hehehe…" anyone could tell that the poor girl was anxious about her battle.

Choosing to try and help her friend relax, Izumi sat down next to her and just waited for a few moments before speaking.

"So you nervous about your fight against Bakugo, huh?" her reply was a timid nod.

Placing a hand on her shoulder she continued to her attempt.

"You shouldn't be nervous..I mean you're allowed to. Who am I to say what you can and can't do, I'm not your boss or anything - but being nervous isn't really going to help you in your fight. You know what I'm saying?"

No answer.

' _Ugh, I'm really not good at comforting people. I really don't know what to say, and I don't want to put my foot in my own mouth by saying something insensitive either. This is hard!'_

A loud silence now permeated through the air of the waiting room, making the atmosphere more and more awkward. Then a noisy bang broke the silence, turning to see what happened Uraraka saw that Izumi had slammed her head down on the table.

"T-Toshihara-chan...w-what happened? Are you alright?"

"Ugh, I'm sorry I can't help you. I really can't think of anything to say that will help you, but be confident and do all that you can. Sounds so cheesy, everyone says that!"

The feeling of failure was coursing through her veins, what kind of person can't even cheer up their own friend when they need it.

The door opened showing Midoriya and Iida coming inside looking for their friend.

"Ah, there you are Uraraka-kun. Your match is about to be next, Kirishima is fighting against a student from Class B."

"So next...soon…" worry and fear were the only expressions on her face after hearing that piece of news.

Seeing that he just made things a bit worse, Iida quickly scramble to say something positive.

"W-Well, I don't think even Bakugo would use full-strength explosions on a girl…"

"He would."

"He totally would." both Izumi and Midoriya spoke up at the same time at that comment. The green haired boy chose to elaborate more on the subject.

"Everyone's trying to become number one to make their dreams come true. Even if it's not Kacchan, no one would be holding back." he looked down before continuing on.

"You've helped me so much, Uraraka-san. That's why I thought maybe I could help you a little. A plan to use your quirk against Kacchan- it's rough but I came up with something." he presented his hero analysis notebook to her.

"Thanks, Deku-kun but it's fine." a soft smile appeared on her face.

"You're amazing, Deku-kun. I keep seeing more and more sides to you. During the cavalry battle, I thought it would be easier to team up with friends, but now that I think about it, I've been trying to rely on you. That's why, when Iida-kun challenged you, it actually made me feel a little embarrassed." raising from her seat next to Izumi she walked her way towards the door, passing the other two.

"Uraraka-san…"

"That's why it's fine. Everyone's facing the future and trying their hardest. That means we're all rivals, right? That's why…" turning back with a shaky smile, lifting a trembling thumbs up.

"Let's meet in the finals!"

With that, she walked out the door heading to the arena where she would have to face off against Bakugo.

Making their way to the leave room, they turned back to look at Toshihara who was still sitting at the table.

"Toshihara-san, aren't you going to come and watch the match?"

"No. I don't think I want to see what happens, I want to be here for her want she comes back."

' _I have a pretty good idea how it's going to come out. Uraraka is going to need someone for her when it's all over, I'll be here to comfort her when she needs it. For sure.'_

Smiling as the two left through the door, Izumi closed her eyes and started to breathe deeply. A few moments later shadows slipped through the crack under the door and started to pool around her feet.

"You're right Uraraka, everyone is going all out to reach for the stars. Which is why I need to make sure I'm at full strength in order to win my matches." more and more inky black silhouettes danced around her feet.

"Man, I lost…"

Uraraka was sitting back in the waiting where Izumi was waiting for her, Midoriya came to check up on her to see how she was taking her loss. He was shocked to see that she looked completely fine, better than fine - she was all smiley.

"I got carried away at the end thinking I could do it, dang it."

"Uraraka-san, what about your injuries? Are you okay?" he came closer wanting to see if she was alright.

"Yeah, Recovery Girl took care of me! It was only moderate healing so it didn't drain my stamina, so I've still got scratches and stuff though." smiling brightly at her concerned friend.

"Man, but that Bakugo-kun was really strong! He totally got me. I need to work harder too!"

His face darkening in disbelief at what was going on.

"Are you...alright?

"I'm fine! Better than expected!"

Izumi just watched her with knowing eyes, though she made sure that Midoriya couldn't see the expression on her face. Uraraka was putting on a brave face in front of him - but as soon as she would be alone or in a secluded place she would breakdown and release all the feelings she was holding back until now.

A buzzing noise made itself known, looking around to see where the sound was coming from.

"Oh Uraraka's getting a phone call, we'll give you some privacy so you can take that." Izumi standing up from her seat and pushing Izuku out of the room.

Present Mic's commentary could be heard throughout the stadium, it sounded like Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were doing their tiebreaker arm wrestling match. The winner was declared.

"Oh hey, that's great Kirishima made it to the second round! Let's go and congratulate him before your match starts Midoriya!"

"Already...Later…"

"I'll be watching, kay? Good Luck."

"Thanks." with those words the two walked out and closed the door.

"Aren't you going to the stands to watch Toshihara-san?" curious as to why she wasn't moving away from the door.

"Oh yeah, I'll be going there. I want to wait for Uraraka ya know? It's a girl thing." leaning against the wall and started to wait.

"Ah, well okay then I'll see you later Toshihara-san!"

"Okay, good luck Midoriya. Todoroki isn't a pushover, and he's aiming for your head."

Nodding at her words he made his way down the hall towards his match. Izumi looked down the hall at his back and wished him all the luck in the world before she resumed waiting. She could hear some mumbling coming from the door, it was quiet for a bit before the sounds of sniffling and a muffled cry reached her ears.

' _Oh, Uraraka…'_

Izumi couldn't take it anymore and knocked on the door, letting the crying girl on the other side that she was coming in. Having finished up her phone call Uraraka still had tears flowing down her cheeks, wasting no time she ran into her friend's arms and held onto her. Lifting her hand before gently stroking the brunette girl who was clinging to her body Izumi spoke softly.

"I know Uraraka. I know, take all the time you need."

Hearing those comforting words, Uraraka began to cry once again and gripped Izumi's P.E jacket. Wrapping her arms around the sobbing teen, she just held her until she was ready to leave the room.

After their moment of comfort done they went to the stands to watch Midoriya's match against Todoroki. And it didn't disappoint one bit, the battle was intense to say the least. Izuku was fighting with all he had - his fingers were broken and bruised to the point where they were purple turning what looked to be black from the use of his quirk. He was trying to get Todoroki to fight him at his full strength, with both his ice and fire. It was admirable but crazy at the same time, he was trying to connect with his opponent - maybe making realise something about himself.

All those words finally seemed to breakthrough to the dual-haired boy because suddenly a raging inferno came pouring out of the teen. Just the heat of if could be felt throughout the entire stadium, the sight was incredible. And a cry carried through the air in rejoice, Endeavor was shouting his support? He looked a bit manic to the point where other sort of leaned away from him as he made his way closer to the arena.

Steam flowed into the air, the ice that covered the ground was melting away from the heat from Todoroki's fire. And it a flash everything started to move, using his right side ice came from under his foot while his left side was still blazing bright. Midoriya wasn't wasting any time either gathering his quirk together - getting ready to counterattack, this seemed to be the final attack that both of them will make.

Sending a barrage of ice towards the green-haired boy Todoroki remained unmoving, while Izuku jumped through the air dodging the icy attack and was flying at amazing speeds at his opponent. Without missing a beat he called upon his fire in a sweeping motion causing it to gather into his left hand. The air around the battle was changing temperature rapidly, from cold to hot, and it was a sight to see. The two released their final attacks but before they could even connect giant walls of cement towered and blocked a good portion of the attacks. A huge explosion rocked the stadium as cement flew all over the place and the force of the blast knocked everything back.

"HOLY SHIT! Is this really happening?!" Izumi screamed out.

"What the heck?!"

"Man, seriously?!"

"What happened?"

Everyone waited with bated breath to see who had won the match. Plumes of smokes started to settle and clear, people on the edge of their seat desperate to find out who would be the winner. Pushed up against the wall on his side of the field was Midoriya's prone figure before it fell to the ground.

"M-Midoriya is out of bounds...Todoroki-san advances to the third round!"

The crowd just erupted with cries and shouts. And Izumi was no exception, standing from her seat full on excitement about what just happened.

"Did you guys SEE that!? That's was crazy amazing, I can't believe this happened and I was there to see it all! Oh my god, Uraraka did you see that?! Wasn't that completely mind-blowingly awesome?!" she was shaking the other girl violently with excitement.

"Y-Yeah, I s-saw everything. P-Please stop sha-shaking me Toshihara-chan."

Snapping out of her stupor Izumi released the dizzy girl and apologized.

"I'm sorry Uraraka, I didn't mean to let my excitement get the better of me. I normally don't do that very often."

"It's no pr-problem, I've never seen you like that before. You're always so cool and calm, it's nice to see this side of you though."

Looking away from everyone's eyes that seemed to be looking at her with bemused smiles at their classmate's reaction. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment from so many eyes staring at her.

"Y-Yeah well, I can't help it when something that catches my interest I tend to be…"

"A hyperactive dumbass?"

"Thanks for the assist there Bakugo...Anyway, think about how Midoriya fanboys about every hero he sees and it's like that."

"Well I'm going to check on Deku-kun to see how he's doing, he should be with Recovery Girl right now." Uraraka stood from her seat with Iida, Tsuyu, and Mineta and they went to check on the wounded boy.

With the arena shattered it took some time for it to be repaired but soon the battles were once again underway. Next battle was Izumi vs Shinozaki, she realised that the soft-spoken girl wasn't really skilled in close combat. She used that knowledge to her advantage, it didn't really take long for her shadows to slice through the girls vines and beat her out of bounds.

After that it was Iida vs Tokoyami, which was an interesting match up. With Iida's speed against Tokoyami's Dark Shadow - who would make sure that the other teen wouldn't get close to him. It was a long battle with quick movements and lots of dodging, it was like a game of chess between the two classmates. They're both intelligent and cautious around the other and trying to outmaneuver and outwit their opponent into causing a slip up. The longer the battle went on, the more tired they got - seeing that they were running low of stamina Iida and Tokoyami decided that it would be best to finish it in one final move. Too bad neither of them won, seemed like another tiebreaker was in order.

The following match was Kirishima against Bakugo, it was a fiery and passionate battle. Both were evenly matched - it was Hardening vs Explosion and it looked like Hardening had the advantage. The damage from the attacks Bakugo was throwing at his opponent did nothing, the redhead was sending out punches left and right keeping the other on his toes at all times. But just as it seemed like Kirishima was fully gaining the upper hand, the spiky blonde countered with a series of explosions. He realised his weakness and just let out a barrage of explosions before landing the finishing blow that knocked Kirishima unconscious.

All the matches done, the screen showed who made it to the next round.

 **Bakugo**

 **Todoroki**

 **Toshihara**

 **Tokoyami**

 **Iida**

Since the final two were evenly matched, it was decided that they would fight against Bakugo and Todoroki and then Izumi would fight against one of the winners of the two matches.

With powerful possible opponents to fight against she wasted no time in planning, during the other matches she walked around the stadium as much and as fast as possible. Gathering all the shadows she could before own match would be announced, to say she was anxious was an understatement - she would need a lot of her strength to battle.

The announcement came and Izumi's head snapped up to listen what the result of the first match was.

"Tokoyami-kun has given up. Bakugo-kun makes it to the next round!"

' _Well shit…'_


	17. Bakugou vs Toshihara

Oh my god, I can't believe I did this again. I keep forgetting to post previous chapters before moving onto the next, I've just been so busy lately that my mind is a jumbled mess. Thank you to the kind Guest reader who pointed this out in a review - I'm literally doing this on my way to work right now lol. I didn't want to forget and I couldn't just wait until I got home, it would kill me the whole time I would be working. This chapter will be unedited until later today since I'm doing all this on my phone. Please please please forgive, I know you all were very excited to see Izumi and Bakugou face off.

 _*Note: This has been edited_

 **Chapter 16**

With the news that Bakugo would be her opponent she would be up against Izumi couldn't help but grimace - yet feel happy. She knew that he wouldn't pull any punches with fighting her, just because she was a girl didn't mean that she can't take powerful hits. It was always something Izumi hated when growing up, when playing with classmates they would treat her and the other girls lightly when more physical games came in. Now it looked like she was going to be able to strut her stuff showing that, even though she was female, that she wasn't someone to take lightly.

She was making her way back to the stands where the rest of Class A were, calm yet anxious. Finally reaching her destination everyone's eyes turned to her and she could tell that they were worried.

"Hey guys, what's up with the faces?" she really wanted to ease their worries and prove that she was no shrinking violet.

"I-It's nothing Toshihara. How do you feel about fighting against Bakugo?" Kaminari was the first to ask what seemed to be the loaded question.

Navy blue eyes looked around and saw that everyone was waiting to hear her answer, with a sigh, she shrugged and leaned against the railing on the stairs.

"Not bad really, I am a bit nervous about my quirk holding up against his. I'm assuming that he knows about my weakness since it's pretty much the same as Tokoyami. But I've prepared for that just in case something like this would happen." her voice was casual like she was just talking about the weather.

"Wow, if it was me I would totally be nervous and freaking out!" Tohru exclaimed, her shirt trembling just thinking about the scenario.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not going to make it easy for him to make it through to the final round that's for sure. He has another thing coming if he thinks I'm just going to roll over and give up."

"Tch, as if you have a fucking chance at taking me on in a fight."

As if on cue, Bakugo trudged his way back to where they were to watch the next match which was Iida and Todoroki.

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you underestimate me?" that was something Izumi couldn't stand, she worked hard and she wasn't going to let some asshole brush it off.

Crimson eyes looked her up and down like he was assessing her skill. Once that was done, they sparkled with cockiness.

"I'll crush you and you won't even get a scratch on me."

' _Save the rage Izumi...save the rage…'_

Her right eye twitched after hearing those words coming out of his mouth, her steps were quick and silent as she was now face to face, chest to chest with the ashen blonde.

"Listen here idiot loser. I'll do more than just scratch you, if you want to win first place, you're gonna have to put in the work. And I **will** make you work. So get ready to get your ass stomped, cause if you think you got it easy - well think again, asshole." her words burned with a quiet rage that made the air surrounding her drop a few degrees.

Those words said she walked away getting ready to warm up and fight.

"Woah...I don't think I've ever seen her that mad before.."

"T-Toshihara-chan is kinda scary when she's like that."

"Eeehh~ you Class A people don't even know the half of it. You're about to catch a glimpse of what she can really do. She shouldn't even be in U.A. in the first place and now everyone is going to see why…" maniacal laughter could be heard from the wall where Class B was sitting.

"What's that supposed to mean? Toshihara-kun is a good person with noble aspirations!" Iida spoke up defending his friend and classmate.

The sound of a wack and a thud was the only answer he received, one again popping up from behind the wall Kendo apologised for Monoma's behaviour - dragging him away.

 _*Music: Retrograde by James Blake_

The sounds of battle were flushed out as she continued to walk away in order to prepare, taking a breath she released her anger from before and closed her eyes. Izumi wasn't going to let his words bother her, she was going to prove to her mother and anyone else that doubted her that she was good enough. Strong enough to become a hero, that it wasn't a faze like her mother thought and wanted it to be, thinking back to the moment she told her. It wasn't something happy, to Izumi - it was one of the worst days of her life.

The fight that followed was something that shattered the relationship between mother and daughter, sure she had her father's support but he wasn't around since they moved. Izumi didn't really have anyone to lean on for encouragement while she was here in U.A., she thought back to the days when she was in middle school and Osaka-senpai was someone she really trusted after her accident.

' _But he's not around anymore, I haven't heard from him in ages. I gotta support myself, there isn't going to be people that are to help me do this.'_

Being aware of the outside just enough to hear that the last match had concluded, Izumi started to stretch out. Preparing her body for the battle that was sure to come - she didn't even feel nervous anymore, just blank. Only her determination remained at that moment, her will was going to push her to show the world what she was made of. There were no friends or classmates this time, it would be just her and Bakugo on the field, fighting against other in order to reach that top spot.

"It's time…" with her mind focused she continued on her way to the arena where her brash opponent was waiting for her.

"This is a battle that is going to intense, two students that were in the top five in the obstacle race and fought their way through the cavalry are now gonna face off!"

The crowd was screaming and cheering, Present Mic doing his job in hyping up the audience.

"We've got the raging blonde with the power of explosions on his side, BAKUGO KATSUKI!"

The mentioned teen was standing there on his side of the arena with a scowl on his face and his in pockets.

"And on the other side is someone that showed her skills with the power of darkness at her control, TOSHIHARA IZUMI!"

There she stood with her back puffed out with pride as she heard her introduction, fists clenched as she looked at the boy just across the way.

"The last quarter-final battle is ready to start. Now BEGIN!" Midnight cried out with a snap of her flogger.

Bakugo wasted no time in rushing at Izumi, with explosions crackling in his hand he moved to make the first strike and a loud boom. Smoke blocking the view for the audience who waited at the edge of their seats.

"Wow! A swift attack from Bakugo who wasted no time in trying to beat his opponent! Will this match end as quickly as it started?!"

The cloud started to clear and the scene in front of everyone came into view, a black wall was in front of the girl taking the full force of the attack without a problem.

"If you think you can beat me like that, then Bakugo, you're sorely mistaken.." the wall softened and gave way just a bit to the point where his hand started to sink into it. Realising that she was planning on trapping him, the blonde to release a chain of explosions that caused the shadow wall to have an air pocket to pull his hand out. But it didn't end there - the wall began to move forward pushing him back and away from Izumi.

 _*Music: Voracity - Myth and Roid_

 _Lost one's Weeping - Kagamine Rin_

 _Your Contract has Expired - A Hat in Time Soundtrack_

 _Night Hawk - Devilman Crybaby Soundtrack_

 _Will Power - Persona 5 Soundtrack_

 _Rivers in the Desert - Persona 5 Soundtrack_

 _You Say Run - My Hero Academia Soundtrack_

The shadow wall then sank into the arena allow with the shadows that swirled around Izumi's feet. They quickly covered the floor creating a layer of shadows.

"Bakugo, you should know better than that. I always try to have a plan when it comes to fighting. Now you're on my battlefield!"

The shadows heard their mistress' silent command and attacked, tendrils sprouted from the ground trying to grab the teen. Thinking quick Bakugo dodged charged at Izumi, not wanting to refuse the challenge she raced to meet him, drawing some of her shadows to her hand creating claws that she knew would help her in this fight.

"Tch, you're more of a dumbass than I thought. I'll just smash your little shadows to pieces!" the two met in the middle and another blast rocked through the air, but once again another wall blocked his attack showing no signs of weakening.

"What the hell?! What the fuck is going on, that should've crushed it into nothing!"

"These shadows are hyper-condensed, I made sure that if a match up like this were to happen that I gathered enough shadows in this huge stadium to fight against someone like you."

She went about swiping at her opponent with her shadow claws, Bakugo moved to the side before striking back with an explosive hit of his own. Fortunately, Izumi blocked in time and didn't take any damage as she once again thrust herself forward not letting up for a moment.

"I'm not done with you yet." shadows started to gather in the air creating her much-beloved bubbles and they rushed at him causing him to take the skies.

"What's this?! Toshihara has Bakugo on the ropes! She isn't letting him even think about landing a blow on her! It seems that she has total control over this battle!"

The crowd was going crazy at what was going on with the battle, they were impressed with the girl that had the student, who up till now, had crushed every single opponent he had come across.

However, Bakugo wasn't one to let someone get the upper hand on him, pushing himself into the sky as he maneuvered out of the way from their range. Though that didn't matter as the shadows propelled themselves after him and gave chase.

"If my attacks ain't enough to destroy your damn shit, then I guess I'll use this to crush them!" Moving out of the way again in order to attack, sending out another attack - though this time it caused the bubbles to disappear.

"Ah, it seems that he found a way to deal with Toshihara's attacks a bit." the dull muffled voice of Aizawa broke in.

"He's right! With the light from the intense light of the sun and his attack it completely destroyed her bubbles, maybe he has a chance to turn this all around!"

Landing on the ground, he unleashed a huge brilliant explosion that caused the shadow ground to dissipate from where he was standing. Giving him a somewhat safe place to stand without fear of getting attacked as soon as his feet touched it. But as soon as that was done a dark pillar from the other side of the arena came flying at him, blocking it with his hands.

"These damn things are starting to piss me off!" he grabbed its' side before sending shockwaves of explosions down the entire thing, causing it to crack before it vanished. He had enough time to see that Izumi was coming at him with another attack ready to go hit him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. She then kicked him which he managed to throw off making Izumi fall back a bit, creating an opening which he used to send her flying back with an attack.

"These two are clearly not letting the other even take a break! What is up with your class Aizawa?!"

Coughing away the smoke that came with Bakugo's attack Izumi called forth more of her shadows back to her which shot up from their resting position into huge pointed needles having him gain more distance. Seeing that she was trying to stall him for time, Bakugo wasn't having any of it and fought his way closer to his opponent.

"If you think your shit can stop me from kicking your ass, then you're more of a damn idiot than I thought you were!"

Izumi was thinking the same thing, she knew that it was going to be impossible to win against him in hand to hand - she only had two weeks of training in that area while it was his specialty. Cursing herself for not practicing more on the subject, she did the only thing she knew she might have a shot at winning.

"She's calling back her shadows to her, does she have something up her sleeves in order to counter Bakugo!?"

"She realized that fighting against him in close combat isn't a smart thing to do, if she only Bakugo to get close to her, it would be over for her."

She didn't have much of a choice in the matter, it looked like she would need to pull out one of her trump cards. Something that she didn't want to use unless it was extremely important but it would be the best shot against her opponent.

"Goddamn it, I didn't think that I would need to come to this." The gathering shadows were starting to trembling in her right hand as she continued to call them back to her.

"If you're gonna stand there and pout like a whiny bitch then you're not worth fighting against!" having enough he ran at her both hands back crackling ready to destroy any walls that would bother to get in the way.

Biting her lip hard she drew her arms in a circle gathering the remaining shadows until there were none left, the ball of darkness began to pulse and glow a deep plume color.

"I'm sure as hell not going to give my spot to you!" her voice rang out strong and proud as thrust her hands out focusing the shadow in her hand. The teachers that were present on the field noticed that this attack wasn't going to be like the other that she used and were at the ready should they sense it was getting too out of hand.

"Shadow Inferno!" a twisting beam of shadows launched out from her hands and straight towards the charging Bakugo, who didn't even flinch as he saw that dark beam coming right for him. He barely had enough time to dodge out of the way - the beam just skimming his right side - and continued its' way pass him. Moving quick, Cementos created several walls of concrete taking the hit that would have shattered the wall surrounding the arena. Luckily, it didn't reach the audience that was watching the match unfold in the stands.

Izumi stood there as the sunlight shone brightly in the sky causing her to hiss in pain. It seemed like using that attack really took a lot out of her, making her sensitive to light and would start giving her sunburn. The large shadow that covered the ground on the battlefield began to evaporate into nothingness knowing that she couldn't use her quirk much longer.

Bakugo while his clothes looked a bit tattered he was still standing strong. Letting out a cry of frustration at the result Izumi charged at him, her fists swinging at him, sending out kicks pushing him back. She wasn't going to just give up, she would go down fighting even if she was pushing herself past her limit. Hurting herself was the least of her worries as she just continued to attack sending out small waves of shadows that were sharp enough to cut. Hoping that she would be able to wear him down if she did enough damage as she bravely fought on.

"Amazing! Even after that attack, Toshihara is still fighting strong, you can't say that she doesn't have fighting spirit!"

An under leg sweep knocked Izumi to the ground, but she rolled away dodging an explosive attack from Bakugo before getting back on her feet. Wiping away the sweat from her forehead, she noticed her arms were starting to turn red from exposure to the sun. She brushed it off as she ran back in with a gut punch and following it up another punch aiming for his chin which barely missed.

"I refuse to give up, you're gonna have to take me down! I'm gonna prove to everyone I'm not weak and that I'm in control." she spoke more to herself than to him, but he heard it anyway.

She sent another punch his way which he dodged and grabbed her arm throwing his opponent over his shoulder. Landing hard with her back on the ground Izumi was dazed a bit before her vision cleared and he was on top of her with his hand poised to attack should she try anything.

Get off of me you asshole! GET OFF!" she struggled against him and kneed him in the stomach which gave her enough time to kick him off of her, gaining some distance between them. At that very moment, Izumi wasn't thinking of away to win - she was just blindly throwing herself at him with the hopes that her mad barrage of attacks.

' _Why? I just wanted to win and show that I was strong enough to do this! Why aren't I strong enough to do this one thing?!'_

A swift counterattack from Bakugo was enough to knock her off her feet, the explosion blocking her line of sight she didn't see the punch coming that landed on her cheek. Dazed and disoriented Izumi was fell for the last time with the red-eyed teen looking down at her, seeing this sent a surge of rage through her body as he put his foot on her chest keeping her pinned down. She could do nothing but slam her fist on the ground in anger and looked away from his face.

"Goddamnit.."

"The winner and moving on to the finals is Bakugo!"

She didn't hear the crowd cheering or felt as they lifted her body onto the stretcher to carry her to Recovery Girl's office to get treatment. The only thing she felt was failure, that she was a failure. She couldn't even open her eyes due to her overuse and the indoor light caused pain, she just laid there on the recovery bed quietly thinking about what happened. After awhile of self-pity, she was able to leave with sunglasses and a black umbrella in hand to prevent her skin from blistering from the sun outside. Izumi made her way to the stands and watched the final match take place silently, her classmates sent concerned glances her way.

"H-Hey Toshihara-san, that was a great match! I didn't know that you were so tough to handle Bakugo's attacks like that."

"Yeah, I was sitting that the edge of my seat cheering for your victory…"

The words they said were meant to comfort her about her loss, but she didn't feel like they helped her feel better. She didn't really want to talk about it at all, when Izumi failed to do something that she put her heart and soul in - well she was a sore loser. But she couldn't let anyone else know about her feelings, she'll wait until she's alone for that mess to surface later.

While she was brooding, she felt the seat next to her sag a bit. Looking in that direction she saw Kirishima smiling wide.

"Yeah? Is there something you want?" her voice was tired and lacked the usual candice she had.

"Your fight was awesome! I didn't know that you could do stuff like that Toshihara, you gotta show me more of your moves." he excitedly chatters on and on about how passionate and manly she was. Before long she had a tiny smile breaking through.

"Oh, thanks. I guess I could show you some stuff..."

"Alright right, it's a date!" and he moved on to a different topic altogether. Everyone else saw the somber air that was surrounding their friend started to dissipate as the spiky red-head continued on about manliness and his ideals.

To say that the fight between Todoroki and Bakugo was bombastic was saying that water was wet. It was obvious that the final two would do all that they could to win and claim that gold medal, a battle of outwitting and overpowering the other - that's what it was. Both were cautious about their attacks, each moving with a plan in mind and reacting should it fall through. But something was off with Todoroki, it didn't seem like he was fighting to the best of his abilities like his mind wasn't really in it, to begin with.

It seemed like Bakugo noticed this and told the other boy that he didn't want to win when his opponent was handicapping himself. He saw the fight between him and Midoriya, he wanted an all-out match.

"Todoroki-kun! Don't lose! Do your best!"

That cry seemed to snap the grey and red-haired boy out of his stupor driving him into action as flames shot out from his left side. Bakugo seeing that he was finally getting what he wanted used his explosions to increase his own rotation causing the smoke to wrap around him as he turned into a human projectile. Todoroki was ready to surround him with his flames but suddenly stop, the look on his face was tired and resigned.

Unleashing the full power of his attack, as soon as Bakugo's hand came into contact with the ice it caused an enormous explosion - shattering the ice and blowing it away as if it was dust in the wind. The smoke from the blast cleared to show the ashen blonde laying stomach down on the ground, and Todoroki's unconscious body laying on the broken ice out of bounds.

Pulling himself up and making his way towards the downed teen, Bakugo was livid. He grabbed him by his collar and was demanding answers. As he was shouting his face looked distressed, not accepting the results of the final match. It was up to Midnight to use her quirk to put the raging teen into a temporary sleep to keep him from getting violent.

"Todoroki-kun is out of bounds! Which mean, Bakugo-kun wins!"

The sound of muffled fireworks and cheering could be heard as Izumi was moved her way closer to the destination she had in mind. Her black umbrella in her hand as she turned the corner and saw exactly what she was looking for, the podium where Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Bakugo were standing waiting for their queue. Her sunglasses still resting on her nose as her eyes made contact with the bird-headed boy in third.

"Toshihara, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be up on the field for the award ceremony ?"

Her footsteps echoed as she came closer and stood in front of them.

"Yeah I should be, but I decided I needed to do something first. By the way, congratulations Tokoyami, Todoroki - you guys were amazing in your matches." the two boys nodded accepting her praise but were still curious as to why she was there in the first place.

"As I'm sure you're aware, I'm not..what's the word..exactly happy with my placement. Getting 4th place again isn't something I want to make a habit of, but I lost fair and square I guess." she turned her head to the real reason she was there. Bakugo was shackled to a cement block with his hands bound by steel cuffs while his mouth was fitted with a muzzle.

"I'm sad I couldn't be on the podium, but them's the breaks. So I decided to do something to cheer me up and get me out of this depressed mindset and in the future." she fished around in her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"I couldn't let this opportunity slip by, ya know." flashes filled the room as she started taking pictures. Bakugo was having none of it and started to shaking and thrash around in his bindings, wanting to destroy the small piece of technology.

"You shouldn't aggravate him like that.." Todoroki cut in.

"There's no harm in doing this, I'm not going to blackmail him with it or anything like that, I'm not that cruel. Not unless I hate you or something, but I don't hate you Bakugo so don't worry." muffled screaming was her only answer.

"Then what are you going to do with it?" Tokoyami was extremely curious now, Izumi just smiled sweetly and answered.

"When I'm feeling really sad, I'll look at these photos and laugh. I know they'll cheer me up a bit. Besides I say it's revenge."

"I didn't know you could be so vindictive.."

"What can I say, there are at certain times when I am a sore loser, I can admit that. Now wiggle around more Bakugo, I'm sure there's gold in those future shots." if the glare he was shooting her was any indication, he would be crushed her phone into dust and beat her with the ashes.

The platform started to rumble signaling that their time was up.

"Well, you have your medals to receive, once again congrats guys. You too Bakugo, I'll see you around." she smiled and waved before shadows enveloped her whole body before sinking down to the ground and slinking to the side to join her classmates to watch the ceremony.

The sky was a deep golden orange by the time they all made it back to their classroom, Mr. Aizawa came into the room with his bandaged body as everyone was sitting in their desks waiting to hear what he had to say.

"So there will be no school tomorrow or the day after. I'm sure the pro heroes who watched the sports festival will want to recruit you, but we'll consolidate everything and announce it when you get back. So rest well, and look forward to that."

"Yes, sir!"

The class was dismissed and everyone moved to make their way home, as soon as she made her way through the class door Izumi opened up her umbrella and walked calmly down the hallway.

"Oi Toshihara!" she turned to see Kirishima walking up to her with Kaminari, Sero and Bakugo with him.

"Hey, what's up guys?"

"You sure you're gonna be alright, I mean you got an umbrella and sunglasses on from using your quirk too much right?" Kirishima's worried voice was somewhat endearing.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be fine after a day or so. I might need to sunglasses tomorrow though, but since we don't have any school the next day I'll just stay home and rest up."

"Hey, if you're free tomorrow then why don't you come and hang out with me, I know this great place we could get something to eat.." the blonde haired boy asked hoping to score a date from her.

"Ehh, dude. Toshihara isn't going to go out on a date with you, leave the poor girl alone man. You hit on anything with a skirt on, you need to learn self-control." Sero elbowed him.

"Yeeaahh, I'll say no to that. Thanks for the offer Kaminari, but you're not really my type. I'm not into the sleazy playboy kind, no offense though."

"Hahaha, dude you got called out!"

The boy slumped his shoulders in defeat after hearing that. Kirishima wrapped an arm around him, comforting the guy's ego.

"Yeah, besides..you and her wouldn't make a good match anyway. Next time man."

"Anyway, if that's all I'll just leave now. See ya later guys!" her back turned as she did a back hand wave goodbye. But before she could get too far a voice stopped her.

"Oi, give me your damn phone!"

"EH! Is Bakugo putting the moves on Toshihara!?"

"No way man.."

Bakugo charged through the three boys and marched up to Izumi, shoving his gold medal into his pocket. Keeping her back turned to him she responded.

"Why so you can destroy it - I don't think so. If you want it you'll have to take it from me, which won't be happening anytime soon."

A calloused hand grabbed her shoulder forcing her to turn around, as he did so her body started to turn inky black signaling she had shifting into her shadow form. His hand passed through her shoulder as she continued to stare at him with dark blue eyes, she then flowed into the ground before darting off.

"Dude, it's not cool to manhandle a girl!" Kirishima coming up from behind.

"Tch, it ain't nothing she can't handle.." he grumbled, annoyed that she got away.

"Yeah man, I mean. Remember her fight against him, she wasn't backing down one bit even after she got roughed up." Kaminari joining in the conversation.

"Uh, guys.." Sero pointed to the closest window and directed their attention to the front entrance pathway.

Izumi was standing there waving at the boys she ditched in the hallway with a smug smile on her face before making her way home.

"That DAMN BITCH!"


	18. Codename: Internships

_Hi all,_

 _I know it's been two weeks since I've updated with a chapter, but my new job has been taking up a lot of my time. Working in a restaurant isn't easy and I need to memorize the whole menu, so most of my time has been trying to remember all the dishes I would need to make, I haven't even touched drinks yet. It's been stressful and nerve-wracking, to say the least._

 _Anyway, I'm so glad that everyone has been patient with me while I was adjusting during this time. I'm not fully out of the woods yet, I'll be real with you all - it might take a month or so for regular updates. I need to settle into my work before I can get a proper updating schedule down pat._

 _If you didn't look at the last update, I've finally had Izumi Toshihara drawn. It's stylized yeah, but it's the artist's style of drawing. Credit goes to_ _Andrea Caprotti for those interested in checking her out._

 _Thank you all so much for continuing to read this story and staying with me. Here's your chapter!_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 17**

It was raining the next time Izumi went to class, not that she minded really, she always liked it. Though she was a bit worried about Iida, she heard on the news the other night that his brother had been gravely injured with his run-in with The Hero Killer. Even when he came into the classroom and greeted him, she noticed that something was off about him - she couldn't put her finger on it but she was sure something was wrong.

The rest of the students were talking about the aftermath of the sports festival and how people started to notice them more in public and came up to them. Izumi also had her own run-ins with fans, though she didn't really like the attention she was getting. It was making her a bit uncomfortable, the swarming of people around heroes was to be expected - but that didn't mean that she had to like it. She'll tolerate it - that's all.

The chatter died down as Aizawa entered the room, and he was all healed up since he wasn't wrapped up like a mummy anymore. Greeting the class with his monotone voice he walked to the podium in the center.

"We're having a special hero informatics class today." suddenly the air was tense as everyone was sitting at the edge of their seats waiting for the worst to come. Bracing themselves for a class of torture and pain.

"Code names. You'll be coming up with hero names."

The clatter of chairs being thrown back and scraping across the floor as they cheered with happiness. Hero names were something very exciting that any student would dream of since they were children. Having enough disruptions Aizawa's eyes glowed red and his greasy hair stood up, signaling that he wanted silence as he wasn't done explaining everything.

"This is related to pro hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The drafts will begin in earnest in the second and third years after students have gained experience and become immediate assets to the pros.

In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you shows that they're interested in your future potential. These offers are often canceled if that interest dies down by graduation."

"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?"

"That's right. And here are the totals for those with offers." pulling out a remote, he pointed it at the blackboard behind him and it showed the results amount of offers each student got from the pros.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the one with the most offers was Todoroki, next was Bakugo, then Tokoyami and Iida and right behind them with Izumi. The rest of the list was shown, most of the students in the class didn't seem to get any offers which was a shame.

"Todoroki's first, and Bakugo's second…?"

"It's the opposite of their placement in the sports festival."

"Some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium."

Hearing Jiro, Sero and Kirishima talking about him Bakugo snapped his head around and roared out his outrage at them.

"What're the pros scared of?!"

"Keeping these results in mind whether or not anyone asked for you, all of you will be participating in internships with a pro. At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see pros at work firsthand.

The hero names are still temporary, but if you're not serious about it…"

"...you'll have hell to pay for it later!" a female voice cut through Aizawa's speech, looking to see who it was their head turned to the figure walking in.

"Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society, and they end up becoming professional hero names!" strutting in with confidence was Midnight, who was going to be taking over that part of the class.

Officially passing the reins over to her, Aizawa pulled out his yellow sleeping bag from underneath the podium and went over to a corner to take a nap and let the students work on their hero names. Whiteboards were handed out with markers to write down some of their ideas after some time Midnight spoke up.

"Okay, let's begin presenting names starting with those who are ready."

"Wait, we're presenting these?!"

The class was silent as no one really wanting to be the first to go up and present their hero name, for the first one would set the stage for who the rest would proceed. It looked like Mina would be the first one up to the podium, skipping with excitement to show off her name. Placing the whiteboard down facing everyone - the name was Alien Queen.

"Are you trying to go for that thing with acidic blood? I wouldn't if I were you!"

Disappointed with her name getting rejected Mina walked back to her seat in defeat, soon after Tsuyu raised her hand showing that she was ready to go next.

"I've had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school. The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."

"That's so cute! It seems friendly, I like it! It's a great example of a name everyone will love!"

Feeling the tense airlift from them after hearing Tsuyu's name, the class seemed to be more relaxed and positive about showing their own hero names they picked out. So happy that they started to cheer.

"Froppy! Froppy! Froppy! Froppy!"

Seeing that it was a good time to go up it was Izumi's turn, she took a deep breath and walked up slowly. Standing in front of a crowd really wasn't her thing, but she had to suck it up and do it if she wanted to be a hero - though it was still nerve-racking. She decided to just get it over with like ripping off a band-aid.

"The Shadow Hero: Silhouette!" her voice was raised a bit showing how nervous she truly was at that moment as she waited to hear what everyone had to say.

"That's a wonderful hero name Toshihara-san, you chose that to symbolize your quirk right?"

"Yeah, it's also sorta feminine I kinda like that about it too. It was something I thought about since middle school…"

Hearing the other students showing support for her hero name, Izumi felt all the tension leave her body as she let out a small sigh of relief. Taking her whiteboard with her she went back to her desk and watched the others come up to present.

"Then I'll go too! Study Hero: Red Riot!" Kirishima was confident and sure of himself when showing off his name.

"You're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot, right?"

"Yeah. It's pretty old fashioned, but the hero image I'm going for is Crimson himself."

"If you're bearing a name you admire, it'll come with that much more pressure."

"I'm prepared for that!"

And everyone that was remaining went back to work with their tasks, some couldn't think up of a great name and were having trouble. After some time, one by one more students presented and gained Midnight's approval - complimenting them as which one was spoken. As the class went on, everyone found it easier to come up with good names that they were satisfied with, after Koda, Bakugo was the next up to present.

"King Explosion Murder." the silence was deafening.

"You probably shouldn't use something like that."

"Why not?!" he couldn't believe his name would be rejected.

' _He probably was thinking about how super badass it sounded...Idiot.'_

"You should be 'Explosion Boy'!" some of the class giggled at Kirishima's suggestion, it would be very appropriate.

"Shut up, Shitty Hair!"

After Bakugo's failed attempt Uraraka went up next with her whiteboard showing the name Uravity, it was a very cute name. Time seemed to fly by and the only ones that were left to present were Iida, Midoriya, and Bakugo - who had to rethink his.

Izumi remembered how much Iida gushed about his older brother, the pro hero Ingenium, and was excited to take up the name that would probably be passed down. Then why was he taking so much time deciding on his hero name, it should have been simple, though she recalled that the elder brother was in the hospital. Iida must feel so conflicted about taking the Ingenium name from his brother, she had to understand his situation.

There wasn't any fanfare like the others, Iida showed his whiteboard with his name written. The look on his face was extremely pained and his shoulders were shaking as if trying to compose himself in front of everyone. Izuku was the next to be called and he nervously got up clutching his whiteboard close to his chest, the name he showed was something nobody really expected he would pick.

"Midoriya, are you sure you're okay with that name?" Izumi's voice sounding unsure at her friend's choice.

"You might be called that forever, ya know?"

His green eyes determined and focused he nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, I didn't like this name until now. But someone changed the meaning of it, and that had a huge impact on me. It made me really happy. This is my hero name!"

Deku.

After hearing those words everyone in the class, besides Bakugo, seemed to be reassured about Midoriya's name.

Bakugo suddenly stood from his seat and made his way towards the front of the class, passing Midoriya with a glare piercing through the poor guy. Slamming his board down again and shouting his new hero name.

"Lord Explosion Murder!"

The sound of crickets chirping could be heard before a voice broke through the silence.

"That sucks, be more original."

"AH! What the hell did you just say Shadow Freak!?"

Izumi was sitting in her chair looking at the ashen blonde with a blank look on her face, her chin was resting on her right hand that was propped up with her elbow on the desk.

"Basic, pick a better name and not something that screams death and destruction. Remember it's a hero name, not a villain name idiot.."

Just hearing that made his red eyes narrow at her with annoyance, he stomped up to her desk and slammed his hands down - rattling the surface just a bit.

"You think you can come up with something better?! HUH?!"

"Sure, why not…" she leaned back in her chair and rocked back and forth for a moment before coming to a stop once her mind was made up.

"Eruption. It's another word for an explosion and it sounds pretty cool too."

"That's a shit name!"

"You're just jealous you couldn't think of something better than that. I don't mind you taking it, as long as you remember who gave you the suggestion." a playful smirk was spreading across her face.

"Why you rotten-"

"Alright alright, that's enough! Toshihara, stop egging him on. Bakugo get back to your seat, we'll work something out for your hero name later."

With hero names finally sorted out, Aizawa started to wake up from his mini nap and make his way back up to the podium - pulling out a stack of papers from underneath.

"Now that everyone has decided on their hero names, we'll go back to talking about internships. They will last a week, as for where you'll have them those who had offers from pros will be given your own lists, so you can choose from those yourself. Those who didn't have offers will choose from among forty agencies from around the country that will be accepting interns.

They all work in different places and have different specialties. Think carefully before you choose."

Everyone was handed a list with names of hero agencies as well as those who received offers got extra papers showing which heroes were interested in them. After getting her own set of papers Izumi raised her hand, waiting to ask her question.

"What is it Toshihara, you just got your papers. You obviously didn't have time to pick."

"Mr. Aizawa, are **you** taking interns?"

He looked at Izumi with wide eyes, he wasn't expecting her to ask that question at all. After several seconds his face went back to its' usual tired expression. Meanwhile, the whole class was shocked before clambering with noise in disbelief.

"W-what are you saying Toshihara-san? You don't want to intern with Mr. Aizawa, remember the hell he put us through the first day of school?!"

"That's crazy, why would you want to subject yourself to that?"

"I think she might have a screw loose…"

Having heard enough chatter Aizawa activated his quirk and the room was silent again, his beady eyes turned to Izumi before answering her question.

"Only second and third years. Turn in your choices before the weekend." and with that he and Midnight walked out of the room, leaving the students to decide where they would be going.

Lunchtime came around and people were still having trouble picking which agency they should go to, Izumi being one of them. She really had her mind set on the chance that Aizawa might be taking interns - she knew he was extremely skilled in close combat and she really likes his fighting style. It was too bad that he only took second and third years though, she could have learned so much from a hero like him. Sure she had offers from other heroes but most of them didn't really interest her.

Shuffling through the papers she continued to read through the names and offers until she came upon one name, her navy blue eyes widened in surprise at what she was looking at. Her reaction caught the attention of Kaminari and Kirishima, and they made their approach while with Sero.

"Hey Toshihara, see something that caught your attention?" she nodded her head her eyes not leaving the paper once.

"Come on tell us then, don't keep us waiting!" Sero snatched the paper from her hands and looked to see what had her attention, his face showed shock at what he saw.

"N-No way, Number 5 Pro Hero Edgeshot!"

"What?! That's crazy Toshihara, you're super lucky one of the top 10 are interested in you! What I wouldn't give for that!"

Taking the paper from Sero's hands, Bakugo who had heard some of the commotion came to see what was so great around Izumi's offers.

"Tch! So you also got one of the top 10's attention huh? Well not like that's anything to be impressed by!" slamming down his own piece of paper on her desk for everyone to see, his aura spoke of cockiness and one-upmanship.

"No way dude! Best Jeanist!? Ahhh~ no fair, of course, someone like Bakugo who can someone like that! It's hard being the little guy.." Kaminari groaned.

"So you're taking him huh? As expected of my buddy Bakugo!" throwing his arm around the blonde's shoulder, Kirishima grinned happily.

"Shut up Shitty Hair!"

Rolling her eyes at the raging teen's attitude about this whole situation, she took her own paper back and wrote down on the sheet that she would be going with Edgeshot for her internship.

"You know this isn't a competition, right Bakugo? Good for you for having Best Jeanist interested in you, now if you don't mind I got give this in."

Not liking her dismissive tone, he grabbed her wrist before she could move away any further.

"You think you're better than me huh?! I totally beat your ass at the sports festival!"

"Yeah yeah, I remember. Look, I'm not trying to best you okay? I'm trying to improve myself into being better - you know gaining new skills. It's called self-improvement, I'm sure you've heard of it." pulling her arm out of his grip she was just about to leave the room, she heard him mutter something before turning away from her.

"Course I know what that is idiot, not like you need it much."

The day had come to where they would all go their separate ways to head to their internships. The whole class had gathered at the train station with hero costumes in hand, Aizawa was there to see them off and give them some last minute advice/ warning.

"You all have your hero costumes, right? Remember you aren't allowed to wear them in public. Don't drop them or anything. Make sure you mind your manners with the heroes at your internships! Off with you, now."

With that the students were off and went on their way to their agencies, Izumi calmly walking towards her train she noticed someone was walking by her. Taking a sneaky glance to her side she caught sight of who.

"Bakugo? Why are you following me?"

"I'm not following you asshole, I'm headed to Best Jeanist's place! YOU'RE THE ONE FOLLOWING ME!"

"...Please don't tell me…" taking off her backpack she fished around her bag before pulling out her paper and seeing where Edgeshot's agency was.

"What you bitching about now?" looking over her shoulder to see what she was reading.

"YOU'RE SHITTING ME?!"

"Looks like we'll be seeing each other a bit during our internships. Since Edgeshot's and Best Jeanist's places are kinda close to each other."

Not liking what he was hearing Bakugo started raging next to Izumi, who was calmly standing next to him - watching him lose his mind at the possibility of running into her. People around them began to gather around to see what all the noise was about but stayed back a bit not wanting to get involved.

"Bakugo, stop making a scene. You're attracting too much attention.."

"Don't tell me what to do!"


	19. The Edgeshot Hero Agency

_Hello everyone,_

 _Oh boy, it's been a while since I've updated. Work has been taking up a huge chunk of my time, even when I'm not working I'm using my supposed writing time to update the step on how to make the food. It's very outdated and has the wrong things on them in incorrect order too - it's very frustrating when you're trying to memorize the whole menu and you put the wrong thing, but it says on the paper they gave you that it should be that thing! Sorry, just venting here._

 _We've entered the internship arc, I'm pretty excited about it. Izumi and Bakugo will be interacting more since they'll be working nearby each other. I have a great closing chapter plot for this arc and I really can't wait to type it and for you all to read it!_

 _I've also been working on another story, this time it will a Mirio x OC. I've always loved Mirio Togata and I KNOW! For a FACT! That there WILL BE SWARMS! Of ladies and gentlemen thirsty for him! He looked so good in the anime~ I can't wait for Season 4 to come out and we can all get to him in action._

 _Thanks for sticking around and I hope you enjoy this chapter,_

 _Moon._

 **Chapter 18**

The train ride over to their agencies was quiet and uneventful, mostly, at first Bakugo would keep muttering about how he didn't want to be stuck with Izumi all the way there. But since she started to block him out and ignored him, he quieted down and just looked out the window watching the scenery go by. Some passengers noticed them and came up to say hello and let Izumi know that they were rooting for her success in becoming a pro - while Bakugo was getting some younger kids teasing him about being strapped to a cement block. Needless to say, he wasn't happy about hearing some kids poke some fun at him and scared them away before they could say anything more.

"You know Bakugo, people are going to think you're deranged or something if you keep shouting.." her voice was deadpan but amused at what she was seeing.

"AH! Who gives a shit what other people think about me, I know I'm gonna surpass All Might and be the greatest pro hero ever!"

"You do realize that in order to become The Number One pro hero, you need good public relations...right?"

"Fuck THAT!"

Rolling her navy blue eyes and looking out the window she went back to doing her own thing, done with the conversation. Izumi could feel his red eyes boring into her skull before she heard a 'tch' and his head snapped to the side as he placed his hand underneath his chin and stared outside.

After 2 hours of travel, they both made it to their station and got off making sure they had everything before continuing.

"So I got to go that way." pointing her finger towards the opposite side of the station.

"Don't give a shit."

"Okay then, be that way. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around some time, I know it's you by the echoes of yelling and swearing." Taking her bag and costume case she sent a lazy wave in Bakugo's direction and she was off to find Edgeshot's agency.

Left alone standing in the middle of a bustling train station, the scowling teen with his hand shoved into his pocket with a slouched position. Looking in the direction where his classmate had gone off, his mind began to wander - but something quickly snapped him out of it.

"Hey, isn't that kid that won the U.A. Sports Festival?"

"You mean the one that was tied to a cement block? Man, that kid was scary!"

Seeing that he was starting to gather more and more attention from people passing by, he grabbed his things and made his way to the exit where his internship would begin.

"Is this the place?" Izumi looked down at the paper in her hands, and looked up and compared the address to the one written down.

With her bags, she walked forward into the Edgeshot's agency and was impressed with the interior. She calmly walked up to the reception desk and talked to the lady behind it who was typing on her computer, she looked up from her work and noticed her standing there.

"Hi, I'm Izumi Toshihara from U.A. I'm here for my internship with Edgeshot."

"Oh yes, we've been expecting you Toshihara-san. You'll find him in the training room on the third floor, good luck!"

She thanked the friendly lady and made her way to the elevator and walked in, hitting the button to go to the third floor - she watched the doors close and went up. Letting out a low breath from her mouth, her heart was beating a bit faster than it normally should. She was nervous, meeting someone like Edgeshot would probably make anyone nervous and she wanted to make a good impression. Sure made a good one during the sports festival that's why she was currently going up the elevator to meet with him, but this was a face to face meeting.

' _You're psyching yourself out Izumi, just relax and do your best…'_

The doors opened and she stepped out before looking both ways down the hallway, seeing an arrow that pointed to the training room she followed and walked into the room. As soon as she passed through the door Edgeshot stopped whatever he was doing and looked in her direction. Standing there is his shinobi inspired hero costume and walked towards her calmly.

"Ah, you must be Toshihara-san. Welcome to The Edgeshot Hero Agency." he stopped in front of her and reach his hand out for a handshake.

Putting her bags down she shook his hand and smiled at him, "Thank you for having me, I hope that I'll learn a lot from you."

"Hm, follow me and we'll get you situated, we have a locker already prepared for your costume and other things as well. Change and we'll start immediately."

Moving past her he led the way towards the locker room and showed her some of the things along the way before making his way back to the training room and leaving her to change.

She didn't think that they would be jumping into training as soon as she walked in, but it was probably a good thing since it was the best way to learn her fighting style and what she could improve one right way instead of talking. Opening her costume case she looked at her new outfit and she was glad that she went for the change. Since her old one got ripped up at USJ, she thought about a better way that would help her with movement and blending in with shadows.

Having finally changed and made her way back to the room were Edgeshot was waiting for her. Walking into the matted room she looked around to see if he was there, and there was no sign of him. She was confused, he did say that he would be waiting here for her after she was done changing, right? The silence in the room was off-putting and felt like she was being watched. Her eyes moved over the room again looking to see if he was hiding somewhere.

' _I guess our training already started.'_

Sending out a pulse of shadows to sweep over the room in order to find him, she felt them cling to something and went to attack as soon as she was sure of where he was hiding, sending shadowy spears towards the left wall she saw him move quickly to dodge out of the way. The spears went into the wall and she saw a thin red ribbon still on the move and she sent her shadows after him, and she was right behind them - running behind a pillar on the opposite side of the room she took cover and tried to keep hidden.

' _Okay, so this is a game of hide and seek. We can play that game, I just need to make sure that I have my guard up.'_

No sooner than when she made up her mind, a paper thin ribbon sliced through the pillar she was hiding behind. Shifting into her shadow form she moved out of the way, not wanting to get crushed by the thing - and without missing a beat Edgeshot was standing right in front of her. Quickly moving away from him but she didn't stand a chance of outrunning him, he was so much faster than her and was constantly blocking off the escape routes she had planned out.

Feeling a bit on the ropes she sent out a trail of needles along the floor in his direction hoping to get him off balance and give her some breathing room. As if he predicted it he jumped into the and clung to the right wall and just waited to see what she would do next. Not being one to disappoint, she sent out tendrils to try and catch him but he sliced through them like they were nothing before wrapping around the remaining one and tracing it back to her - his ribbon was pointed right on her and she knew she was beaten. Coming out from the ground she changed back and waited to see what he would say.

"Your fighting style is more stealth based correct? You like catching your opponent off guard and taking them down quickly." she nodded and remained quiet waiting to hear if he had more to say.

"There's nothing wrong with that, but you do know that not everyone is going to let their guard down. As soon as they feel something is off they'll never drop it. You felt it as soon as you came back in didn't you, the need to be on your guard."

Once again she nodded.

"I watched you during the sports festival, you caught my attention and I knew you had some skills that were more advanced than the other students in your year."

"Thank you, sir. I always try my best to have good control of my quirk." she was humbled that someone like him would take notice of her hard work and compliment her.

"Hm, and then came your final match with that Bakugo boy…"

After hearing that, she was once again on edge. "What do you mean?"

"The final use of your quirk, that shadow beam. You held back." his grey eye narrowed more than they already were and Izumi's widened just a bit. Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything, he continued.

"You fanned out the beam at the last moment, instead of concentrating it to a single point. I'm quite sure the results would have just as destructive as the shockwave during the Midoriya and Todoroki match." his voice was cool and calm as he gave his insights on the matter.

Her navy blue eyes looking down at the floor, her lips tightened into a thin line as if trying to holding any words that wanted to come out.

"Judging by your reaction I was right and that you were afraid of not only using the full abilities of your quirk but the reactions to the results as well. At the beginning of the match, you were confident and you gathered as many shadows as you could at the time. But the second half, you seemed to have just wavered and you lost."

Izumi's hands balled up into fists and her entire body was tensed as he pointed out the flaws she tried so hard to hide. Everything he said was right, she did hold back that last moment she used her quirk - she was afraid of the audience reaction if she did just really go all out.

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious, in fact, it's a very important thing for a pro-hero to have. But when it comes at the price of limiting oneself for no reason or because of fear - then we can't properly do our job."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and it caught her attention, bring her eyes off the floor and look him straight in the eye. The look he was giving her was somewhat soft and understanding, he nodded and spoke again.

"I knew that as soon as you were fighting hand to hand with that boy, releasing your frustrations out on him and yourself. That was the main reason I sent out that offer to you. During your week here, we'll work on you losing your fear and breaking through the limits you have set for yourself." she couldn't tell for certain but it sounded like he was smiling underneath his mask as he spoke those words.

"That's something I would be thankful for sir." she looked at him with a hesitant smile and a nod.

She was here to improve herself, not only her quirk and fighting abilities but her mentality too. It seemed that Edgeshot had noticed and was willing to help her out by sending her an offer.

It was something she would be grateful for the rest of her life.


End file.
